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UNIVERSALISTS. 



BY HOSEA BALLOU 



" Suffer me a little, and I will show thee that I have yet to speak 
on God's behalf." Job 39: 2. 



BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED BY J. M. USHER. 

CINCINNATI : 

J. A. GURLEY. 

1851. 






Enterea according to Act of Congress, in the year I849, by 

JAMES M. USHER, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 



- 



** 



Stereotyped by 

HOBART & ROBBINS, 

NEW ENGLAND TYPE AND STEIIEOTVPE FOCNDERY, 
BOSTON. 



ciMcaHon. 



THIS VOLUME IS MOST AFFECTIONATELY 
INSCRIBED TO ALL THE BELOVED BRETHREN IN THE 
MINISTRY OF UNIVERSAL SALVATION, AND TO ALL WHO BE- 
LIEVE IN THAT DIVINE DOCTRINE, AS REVEALED 
THROUGH OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR, JESUS 
CHRIST, AND RECORDED IN THE 
HOLY SCRIPTURES, 
BY THEIR VERY HUMBLE AND GRATEFUL SERVANT, 

HOSEA BALLOU. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 

A General Epistle to Universalists, . . . .13 

Momentous Questions, 23 

A Short Essay on Univer^alism, 25 

Advice to Young Men, 38 

A Sermon, 55 

A Sermon, 78 

The Doctrine of Universal Salvation, . . . .96 
Remarks offered at a Religious Conference, . . 109 

The Utility of Evil, 115 

Examination of Dr. Channing's Discourse on the Evil 

of Sin, 127 

Salvation Irrespective of Character, . . . .179 
Human Ability in relation to Gospel Salvation, . .190 

The Value of Good Works, 204 

Advice to Young People, 212 

Salvation by Grace, 221 

Necessity and Free-Will, 230 

The Right Motive, 238 

Progression, 246 

Will men sin after they are Dead ? . 254 



PUBLISHER'S PREFACE. 



The work, here laid before the public, consists partly 
of original pieces written by Mr. Ballou for this 
volume, and partly of articles from his pen which 
have already appeared in different periodicals. To 
the former class belong A General Epistle to Uni- 
versalists, Momentous Questions, Essay on Universal- 
ism, Advice to Young Men who design to enter the 
Ministry, The Doctrine of Universal Salvation, and 
The Utility of Evil. The latter class is made up of 
such selections, from his writings, as it was thought 
desirable to preserve in a more permanent form than 
that in which they first appeared. 

One object with the Publisher was to call forth,, 
from the venerable Author, some new contributions to 
the great cause to which he has devoted his life ; 
some additional counsels, which his brethren may 
receive as a legacy, and some fresh testimony which 
the world may regard as the maturest dictate of long 
experience and reflection. His advanced age forbids 
1# 



VI PUBLISHER S PREFACE. 

the hope that he will many times again address the 
public in this way ; and the latest thoughts and senti- 
ments of such a man, on topics of so much moment 
as those which are here discussed, will be felt to 
claim respectful attention with all candid minds. 

He is now in his seventy-ninth year, and in the 
fifty-ninth of his ministry, having begun to preach in 
the autumn of 1791. His first settlement, as a pastor, 
was in 1796, over the Universalist Society in Dana, 
Mass. From this place he removed, in 1803, to 
Barnard, Vt., and took the charge of the Universalist 
societies in that town, in Woodstock, Hartland, Bethel, 
and Bridgewater. After continuing there about six 
years, he accepted a settlement, in 1809, with the 
church in Portsmouth, N. H. In 1815, he was called 
to the church in Salem, Mass. ; and thence, in Dec. 
1817, to the Second, or School Street, Universalist 
Church, in Boston, with which he is still connected 
as senior pastor. 

This is no place, nor time, to speak of the peculiar 
endowments which have distinguished him from the 
first, and which yet continue in a great measure unim- 
paired. It will be no indelicacy, however, to recog- 
nize (what is universally conceded) his fatherly 
relation to the present body of believers in the salvation 
of all mankind, and his paramount agency in spreading 



publisher's preface. Til 

this doctrine. He has lived to see the number of its 
professors increased from a few thousands to nearly as 
many hundreds of thousands. That faith, which was 
everywhere held in abomination at his entrance in the 
field, has also diffused its elements at least into all the 
old forms of religious belief, and sensibly modified 
even the popular creed. The character of Universal- 
ism itself has been renovated under his eye. Almost 
half a century ago, it began to cast its old Calvinistic 
slough ; and it went on to develop itself more nearly 
according to the simplicity of the Scriptures. In all 
this progress, of various kinds, external and internal, 
he has borne the leading part. Besides the immediate 
results of his preaching, writings, and conversation, 
he has furnished much of the solid material which 
others have wrought out into current use, and, in 
many cases, has given the impulse and general direction 
of thought to those who have come to different conclu- 
sions from his own on subordinate points. It is not 
extravagant to say, in general terms, that what Univer- 
salism now is, and what its influence now is on the 
religious world, is owing, under God, to him. 

Should it be asked, how he has been enabled to 
accomplish so much in his Master's cause, the answer 
will be very important to such as would share in use- 
fulness of this permanent kind. So far as human 



Vlll 



publisher's preface. 



means are concerned, he has done it by rigorously 
"minding his own business;" by concentrating all 
his powers upon the work ; by consecrating himself, 
his time, his reputation, all that he had, to the truth 
as it is in Jesus Christ, disregarding men's abuse or, 
favor, and speaking in the plainest simplicity the mes- 
sage of which his heart was full. This is the secret 
of success, with those who have a dispensation of the 
gospel committed to them. Without this, the most 
splendid talents will leave no more lasting effects 
behind, than does the morning cloud, or the dew that 
vanishes under the heat and burden of the day. 



J. M. USHER 



Boston, Aug. 1849. 



A GENEKAL EPISTLE 

TO UNIVERSALISTS. 



To the numerous fraternity of believers in uni- 
versal salvation, through Him who gave himself 
a ransom for all men, pursuant to the will of God, 
who will have all men to be saved and to come 
unto the knowledge of the truth ; and to all who 
call on the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
Christ, whithersoever this epistle may come : — 
Brethren, will you listen to the beseechings of 
your aged servant in Christ, who has long 
endeavored to serve you for Jesus' sake ? 

All favors bestowed by the Giver of every good 
gift, and every perfect gift, impose corresponding 
duties and obligations on those who receive them. 
By what means, let your servant ask, were your 
minds enlightened, and brought out of darkness 
into the glorious light of universal love ? You 
answer, By carefully and prayerfully searching 
the Scriptures. In what estimation, then, should 
you hold these Scriptures, which have granted 



14 ■ A GENERAL EPISTLE. 

you this deliverance from the gloomy horrors of 
never-ending woes ? Does the Bible contain the 
divine promise, that in the seed of Abraham, 
which seed is Christ, all the nations, all the fam- 
ilies, all the kindreds of the earth shall be blessed ? 
Does the Bible teach that the one Mediator 
between God and men gave himself a ransom 
for all, to be testified in due time ; that God has 
made known his purpose, that, in the fulness of 
the dispensation of times, he will gather together 
all things in Christ ; and that he worketh all 
things after the counsel of his own will ? And 
does it teach us, that denying ungodliness and 
worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, 
and godly, in this present world ? And do the 
Scriptures teach us all things which pertain to 
life and godliness, through the knowledge of him 
who hath called us to glory and virtue ? If these 
things be so, allow your aged servant to beseech 
you to hold the Scriptures in that high regard, 
which corresponds with the blessings you receive 
from them. 

Are there no reasons to fear, that the blessed 
oracles of divine truth are less read and less 



A GENERAL EPISTLE. 15 

regarded than they ought to be ? Have not 
some of the professed preachers of the gospel 
manifested more regard for what is called science, 
than for the plain declarations of the Divine 
Word ? And have they not been too much coun- 
tenanced in this course by their hearers ? A 
word to the wise is sufficient. Be exhorted, 
brethren, to regard the apostle's solicitude, who 
feared, that as the serpent beguiled Eve, through 
his subtilty, his brethren's minds would become 
corrupted from the simplicity which is in Christ. 
Are there no grounds to fear, that some, who 
have been open advocates of divine truth, have, 
in some measure, yielded to the popular influence 
exerted to dissuade them from its open defence, 
in hope of amalgamating with such as are so very 
liberal as to define no belief whether the will of 
our heavenly Father in man's final salvation will 
be accomplished or not ? " To the law and to the 
testimony; if they speak not according to this 
word, it is because there is no light in them." 
It seems hardly necessaiy, brethren, to exhort 
you to beware of that meteor called Christianity, 
which is not founded on Christ ; which does not 



]6 A GENERAL EPISTLE. 

acknowledge the reality of the wonderful works 
done by him ; which would lose none of its 
authority by dispensing with Christ, his death 
and resurrection. " If Christ be not risen, then 
is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain." 
Under pretence of progress, it seems that some 
have come to the conclusion, that they must leave 
the Scriptures, Christ and his apostles, all which 
only served for their times, and go on to perfec- 
tion, adopting as a motto, Upward and onward ! 
If, in room of leaving the Scriptures, they would 
only leave the false doctrines to whose support 
they have been erroneously applied, no fault 
could be imputed to their progress. 

Your aged servant would call your very serious 
attention to the consideration of the Christian 
Sabbath, and the devotional services it requires. 
That the observance of the Sabbath, for the pur- 
poses of public devotion, is of indispensable 
necessity, it would seem no professed Christian 
could doubt. It is evident, according to the New 
Testament, that soon after the resurrection of the 
divine Master, the apostles, and all who believed 
on Jesus, met on the first day of eveiy week for 



A GENERAL EPISTLE. 17 

the purpose of divine worship ; and there is no 
doubt, but they chose that day because it was the 
day on which Jesus arose from the dead. In 
view of these momentous facts, does it not appear 
most reasonable, that all Christians, in all ages, 
should, as far as circumstances and means will 
permit, follow so good an example ? Though 
there seems no probability that this custom will 
be soon wholly discontinued, we have, even now, 
and in our populous cities, where the people have 
every needed convenience for attending public 
worship on the Sabbath, reason to fear that many 
neglect this privilege ; and that among this class 
are such whose example has an influence on 
others, thereby depriving them of those enjoy- 
ments, which none can well do without, and 
which are especially needed by the poor. 
Brethren, suffer the word of exhortation, not to 
neglect the assembling of yourselves together. 
Can any of you, rich or poor, seriously persuade 
yourselves, that it is better for you, and for your 
neighbors, and for your families, that you stay 
at home, and not attend public worship on the 
Sabbath ? According to the influence your 
2* 



18 A GENERAL EPISTLE. 

example will exert in community, are the demands 
of community on you for such examples as may 
prove a blessing to others. Our time being short, 
let it be wisely improved. Who of us will regret, 
at the close of life, that we have devoted too 
many Sabbaths to the worship of God in public ? 
Or who of us will not, at that period, be thankful 
for all the opportunities we shall have faithfully 
improved, in worshipping God in spirit and in 
truth ? 

As it is undoubtedly the case, with many 
believers in the doctrine of universal salvation, 
that they are, in many places, but few in number, 
and not able to be at the expense of a meeting- 
house, or of maintaining a public preacher, they 
may think it their duty to attend, with their 
families, public worship where a partial gospel is 
preached, and universal salvation proscribed. To 
such, it may be said, " Wisdom is profitable to 
direct." All circumstances must be taken into 
the account. How many true believers are there, 
who can meet together ? Two or three have the 
promise of the divine presence. Let them meet 
in the private dwelling of some brother, who can 



A GENERAL EPISTLE. 19 

best accommodate such as will attend. Let the 
Bible be the minister. Read some portions of 
Scripture ; converse on them ; and, if convenient, 
sing hymns, <fec. In all parts of our country now 
good sermons are in print, and might be read to 
edification in very small assemblies. By such 
meetings, some, who do not believe, may be 
induced to drop in, and inquire after truth. 
From such meetings, large societies of our com- 
mon faith had their origin ; and the oldest mem- 
bers thereof have confessed that their early 
meetings were among those which they best 
enjoyed. Let all who wish well to Zion, remem- 
ber her in her low estate. 

The establishment of churches, and the attend- 
ance on the Lord's supper, are privileges which 
ought not to be neglected. Could the prejudices 
of the people all be removed in regard to church 
membership, and the Lord's supper, and the more 
rational practice of the first Christian believers 
be adopted, it would, no doubt, much improve our 
Christian communion and fellowship. Ail who 
were converts to Christianity, were as freely 
admitted to the celebration of the supper, as they 



20 A GENERAL EPISTLE. 

were to the public services of devotion. Indeed, 
the supper was one part of public service. What 
good reason can be assigned why three quarters 
of a Christian congregation, after joining in the 
prayers and praises offered in the sanctuary, and 
after listening to a fervent dispensation of the 
words of everlasting life, retire from the house of 
worship, and leave the other fourth to celebrate 
the death of Jesus, in which the whole congrega- 
tion believe ? If the death of Jesus be allowed 
to benefit all, should not all join in its celebration ? 
Community at large join in celebrating the day 
of our national independence ; and the fact that 
this independence is a benefit to all, justifies the 
whole community in so doing. But, brethren, 
your servant, who offers advice, assumes no right 
to command. The apostle says, " Let a man 
examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, 
and drink of that cup." 

Among all the great subjects embraced in the 
circle of Christian duties, none can have a greater 
claim on parents, than the bringing up of their 
children in the nurture and admonition of the 
Lord. Be exhorted, therefore, by the love of 



A GENERAL EPISTLE. 21 

Christ to little children, and by your own most 
tender affection for your offspring, to neglect no 
opportunity or means which may be employed in 
promoting this object. The young and tender 
heart, like the pliant wax, is susceptible of any 
impression. How indispensable, then, is it, that 
the divine image should be as constantly before 
the mind of childhood as is possible ! The more 
love is infused into the heart of the child, the 
more will that heart manifest the divine image. 
And the rule will hold good, in relation to this 
duty of parents, as in relation to all other duties, 
"Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also 
reap." Parents in general, who have disobedient, 
ill-natured, and quarrelsome children, have used 
unreasonable severity with them, endeavoring to 
overcome evil with evil. The doctrine of Jesus 
should be taught to children while quite young. 
There is scarcely anything more easily taught. 
To render good for evil, is the essence of the doc- 
trine which Jesus taught and practised. In any 
instance in which chastisement is required, the 
child should be made to understand that it is 
inflicted for its good. 



22 



A GENERAL EPISTLE. 



The widely-spread custom of Sabbath schools, 
and the liberal patronage which is granted them, 
furnish wonderful facilities for the religious and 
moral culture of children. The writer of these 
suggestions was at Salem a few days since, at 
the Massachusetts Sabbath School Anniversary, 
where the many lovely children made a most 
charming display, and sang the praises of God 
with well-disciplined voices. The scene called 
up the comparison of these times with those fifty 
years ago, and it was believed, that fifty years, as 
well improved in future, would accomplish the 
divine promise, that all Zion's children shall be 
taught of the Lord, and that their peace shall be 
great. Parents and guardians would do well to 
give to children of their care all those multiplied 
advantages which distinguish our times. 

Superintendents and teachers in Sabbath 
schools, are entitled to much gratitude for their 
faithful services, and it is hoped that their own 
religious and moral improvement will prove a 
rich reward, in connection with the happy reflec- 
tion that they have watered and nurtured many 
pleasant plants, which flourish in the garden of 
God. 



MOMENTOUS QUESTIONS. 23 

If, by the foregoing suggestions and advice, 
any minds should be induced to a serious consid- 
eration of the duties mentioned, and any service 
thereby result to the cause of truth, of pure and 
undefiled religion, and of humanity, it will show 
that, by God's blessing, small means may redound 
to his honor. The writer could not persuade 
himself that more than a few hints on the several 
subjects which have been noticed, could be required 
of him, or be of any essential benefit to his readers. 



MOMENTOUS QUESTIONS. 

1st. If the Divine Being inspired the prophets 
to foretel events, involving what would be brought 
to pass by the schemes planned by kings, and 
executed by armies under their command, was it 
possible that such events could have been pre- 
vented by human agency ? 

2d. If we allow that God, by his Holy Spirit, 
moved the prophet Isaiah to point out the suffer- 
ings of the Messiah, as we read in his fifty-third 
chapter, can we reasonably believe, that, by any 



24 MOMENTOUS QUESTIONS. 

human agency, those sufferings could have been 
prevented ? 

3d. Can we reasonably believe, and on rational 
grounds defend the belief, that Peter was possessed 
of an agency by which he could have avoided 
denying his Master, as Jesus told him he would ? 

4th. If we allow that Jesus Christ appeared to 
Saul, for the purpose of his conversion to Chris- 
tianity, and to make him a minister and a witness 
of gospel truth to the Gentiles, can we reasonably 
believe that it was possible, by any agency which 
Saul possessed, to have prevented his conversion, 
or have avoided his ministry? 

5th. Have we any reason to believe that Saul 
was possessed of any freedom of will, which was 
violated by the action of that power by which he 
was converted ? 

By stating these questions, we wish not to 
puzzle the mind of any one ; but, believing as we 
do that the great subject embraced in them is 
not generally understood as it ought to be, it is 
hoped that, by calling attention to it, some useful 
inquiry will thereby be induced. 



A SHORT ESSAY ON UNIVERSALIS^. 



We propose, in what we shall say in the few 
following pages, on the subject of Universalism, 
to offer a few suggestions on several subjects which 
relate to the doctrine, considered as a system of 
theology, which distinguishes its believers, as a 
sect, from Christians of other denominations, and 
also in regard to some of the different views 
which have been entertained respecting the doc- 
trine, by those who have professed and defended 
it. And, 

1st. As respects the one central idea, in which 
all, who have ever professed to believe the doc- 
trine, have agreed. This great and paramount 
idea embraces the final end of all sin in the 
human family, and the consequent holiness and 
happiness of all men. We deem it proper to 
consider all who embrace this one item of faith 
as Universalists, however they may differ in 
regard to the ways and means which have been, 



26 



A SHORT ESSAY 



or may be, used to carry into effect the desired 
and glorious result; or however they may differ 
as to times and seasons in which Divine wisdom 
may accomplish it This item of faith evidently 
distinguishes all its advocates from all who believe 
that any of the human family will sin and suffer 
as long as the Creator shall exist. 

2d. There is another item in the belief enter- 
tained by Universalists, in which all its advocates 
are agreed. And that is, that this great and 
glorious truth has its origin in the nature of God, 
and is a necessary result flowing from all the 
Divine attributes, which harmonize in infinite, 
unchangeable love. As it is manifestly unreason- 
able to suppose that there can exist in any one 
of the Divine attributes a tendency which conflicts 
with that of any other attribute, so is it equally 
unreasonable to allow that Divine justice can 
require any punishment or retribution which 
Divine love does not desire. That the good of 
the subject is the object, is the necessary con- 
clusion. 

3d. All Universalists agree in the belief, that 
their distinguishing doctrine is plainly taught by 



ON UNIVERSALIS]*!. 27 

Divme inspiration, in the scriptures of the Old 
and New Testaments ; and, of course, they do 
not believe that the inspired Scriptures anywhere 
express a contrary doctrine. They find this doc- 
trine in the writings of Moses, in the prophets, 
and in the Psalms ; and most clearly set forth in 
the teachings of Jesus and his apostles. The 
very spirit of the gospel of the Son of God is 
that of love to enemies, and the rendering of 
good for evil. And, 

4th. All Universalists agree in believing that 
the true Christian life consists in possessing, 
living, and acting the spirit of love, as manifested 
in the life and teachings of the Divine Master. 
And however we may fail, or come short of this 
rule, even our delinquencies admonish us of its 
purity, and compel us to acknowledge it. 

Having presented the reader with a short com- 
pendium of the articles of our faith, in which 
Universalists are agreed, we propose to set forth 
a concise view of some of the most important 
differences in the opinions which have been 
embraced by believers in the before-mentioned 
essential particulars. 



£S A SHORT ESSAY 

It would not be consistent with our present 
purpose, or with the limits prescribed to these 
pages, to go back to the early ages of the church, 
and inquire into the particular tenets of those 
learned divines who were believers in this doc- 
trine, and who taught it in the schools. Some 
of those, having imbibed many notions taught by 
Grecian philosophers, thought it consistent with 
Christianity to retain many heathen opinions, 
and exerted more labor, learning and criticism, to 
reconcile the ancient mythology with Christianity, 
than to understand and teach the doctrine of 
Jesus in its simplicity. What we now propose 
to do is to take somewhat of a general survey of 
the opinions entertained by those who, within the 
memory of living men, have believed and taught 
Universal ism. As this doctrine was first taught 
in this country, its general aspect indicated that 
it had what we may call a Calvinistic base ! A 
work entitled " Calvinism Improved," designed to 
vindicate Universalism, was not very essentially 
different from the views of our Universalists in 
general fifty years ago. As the basis of Calvinism 
is generally understood, we need not describe its 



ON UNIVERSALISM. 29 

elements. Simply to improve it, so as to estab- 
lish. Universalism on it, requires only to extend the 
merciful decrees of God, which Calvin restricted 
to a part of the human family, so as to embrace 
the whole, and do the same with the vicarious 
atonement made by the Son of God, which Calvin 
confined to a chosen part. When a Calvinist 
found that the Scriptures plainly teach that the 
Saviour gave himself a ransom for all men, hav- 
ing, by the grace of God, tasted death for every 
man, it was easy for him to see the impropriety 
of believing that God had, from all eternity, 
doomed any to endless woe. It does not appear 
that our earliest Universalists doubted that man, 
by sin, had incurred the just penalty of endless 
punishment, but fully relied on the efficacy of the 
atonement for a deliverance of all men from such 
a condemnation. The doctrine of the Trinity 
was also held as an essential part of the general 
system of doctrine. The great idea of universal 
salvation filled its believers so full of joy, giving 
such an impetus to benevolence and love, that 
their zeal to impart its light and comfort to their 
fellow-men seemed to correspond with its vastness 
3* 



£0 A SHORT ESSAY 

and glory. The natural consequence of this state 
of things was to arouse the clergy, who had been 
quietly settled in the doctrine of endless misery, 
and were enjoying a comfortable living with their 
people, who believed their doctrine, to look about 
them, and to exert all the means in their power 
to oppose and put down a doctrine, which, to 
them, appeared to be subversive of Divine truth, 
and dangerous to the interests of souls committed 
to their charge. The few defenders of Univer- 
salism found enough to do, in contending with 
their numerous and learned opposers, without 
retiring to their studies to call in question, and 
to examine, the soundness of certain tenets Avhich 
they had never doubted, and which they could 
hold, not only without weakening their own 
cause, but use successfully in opposing their 
adversaries, who believed the same. 

While viewing these circumstances, in room 
of wondering why our early preachers did not 
see the impropriety of allowing the infinite 
demerit of sin, and the incongruous notion of an 
infinite substitute for its penalty, we may marvel 
that they should have been brought so far out of 



ON UNIVERSALIS]*!. 



31 



darkness as to behold that one bright and glori- 
ous star in the midst of the gloom which sur- 
rounded it. They were evidently men of strong 
minds, acute discernment, and of moral courage. 
To a wonderful degree were their labors blessed, 
and converts from the doctrine of endless punish- 
ment became numerous, as trophies of their 
spiritual warfare. 

But as believers were multiplied, and additions 
made to the number of advocates of the impartial 
doctrine, it seems that Divine wisdom saw fit to 
lead some minds to look inquiringly into the 
soundness of many dogmas which had been suf- 
fered to lie undisturbed in public opinion for ages. 
These inquiries were directed to test the doctrine 
of the Trinity, of vicarious atonement, of the 
infinite demerit of sin, of the justice of endless 
punishment, of the common doctrine of a personal 
devil, and the existence of that hell in which the 
church had so long believed, and which her clergy 
had located in the invisible, eternal world. On 
examination of the dogma of three distinct per- 
sons in one indivisible, infinite being, each of 
which is infinite, it was discovered to be embar- 



32 A SHORT ESSAY 

rassed not only with mystery, defying even an 
approach by the human understanding, but 
involving most palpable absurdity; and when 
the fact was duly considered, that Jesus by his 
many prayers acknowledged his dependence on 
his Father in heaven, and when it was also 
duly realized that he acknowledged that he was 
sent of the Father, and that all the power he 
possessed and exercised was given him by the 
Father, the dogma was given up, as resting on 
no better ground than human invention. 

Vicarious atonement, when carefully exam- 
ined, was believed to depend on certain assumed 
notions, which had for their support neither 
Scripture nor reason. If man justly deserved 
endless punishment, or any punishment at all, 
neither Scripture nor reason would allow that the 
innocent should suffer it in room and stead of 
the guilty. As to reason, it frowns on such a 
dogma indignantly ; and the Scriptures, wherever 
they speak on the subject, assure us that God 
will render to every man according to his works. 
As, in the very nature of moral consciousness, 
guilt is the necessary retribution of the rommis- 



ON UNIVERSALISM. 33 

sion of known wrong, it is impossible that the 
innocent should suffer it. 

The doctrine of the infinite demerit of sin, and 
of the justice of endless punishment, required no 
very deep or labored research to result in explod- 
ing it. The eye of enlightened reason, at one 
glance, could clearly see, that if sin be infinite, 
there can be no difference or degrees in criminal- 
ity, while the Scriptures clearly teach a compara- 
tive distinction, and that while one offender is 
justly liable to many stripes, another is exposed 
to but a few. As to the justice of endless pun- 
ishment, minds enjoying the liberty of free 
inquiry could easily detect the diabolical charac- 
ter of such justice, as it is the exact opposite of 
the Divine nature, which is love. Such justice 
is evidently predicated on the false principle and 
ungodly practice of rendering evil for evil. 

The commonly received opinion, that there 
exists a personal being called the devil, seemed 
as difficult to eradicate from people's minds as 
any of the superstitions which had been nour- 
ished by learned divines in any age. Such a 
being, it seems, was indispensable in contriving 



34 A SHORT ESSAY 

and carrying on the scheme of man's eternal 
ruin ! But when inquiry demanded who was 
the author of this devil, and what he was made 
for, and who it is that upholds him, and other 
kindred questions were asked, the most plausible 
account which could be obtained amounted to 
the startling blasphemy of attributing the whole 
to the wisdom of God ! 

These inquiring minds indulged in the liberty 
of calling in question the existence of that hell, 
in the invisible, eternal world, the belief of which 
the doctors of the church have taught to their 
people for many ages. And now, what account 
were our divines able to furnish concerning this 
dark, gloomy state of endless woe ? Nothing 
more than that they knew nothing about it. 
True, they would say that we read of hell in the 
Bible, but they were utterly unable to show that 
a single passage gave countenance to the exist- 
ence of such a hell as they professed to believe 
in, and in which they taught the people to 
believe. And as such a belief is evidently dis- 
honorable to the character of our heavenly Father 
it was rejected as an abominable superstition. 



ON UNIVERSALIS}!. 



35 



As some of those exploded superstitions had 
been retained by the early defenders of Univer- 
salism, it was alarming to them to be assured 
that their younger brethren, who preached the 
glorious doctrine of universal salvation, had repu- 
diated those doctrines which they had never 
called in question. And now arose a conflict 
between the preachers of Universalism, almost as 
sharp as that which had been carried on between 
Universalists and their opposers ; and had it not 
been that the spirit imparted to all who believed 
in that one central idea of universal, impartial, 
and unchangeable love, predominated in directing 
their feelings and measures, lamentable conse- 
quences might have been realized. But such as 
had been favored with new discoveries, realizing 
that they first believed in universal salvation, 
before they made those discoveries, and even by 
the assistance of their fathers in the faith, would 
have been quite unreasonable, had they been 
either uncharitable or ungrateful towards their 
elders and benefactors. Such considerations were 
not without their favorable influence. 

The doctrine of a future retribution, or of a 



38 A SHORT ESSAY 

state hereafter in which the sins of this life will 
be punished, was not denied by any of the early 
defenders of final restoration. The belief that 
there will be an end of sin and of its punishment 
was received with such transporting joy, that 
minor subjects were little thought of. Those in 
our times, who are led to yield an assent to the 
doctrine of Universalism, rarely feel such ecstatic 
joy as did the first believers. The reason is, 
those who now become convinced of the truth of 
the doctrine have so long lived in the atmosphere 
of the doctrine, that they have, by degrees, 
become fully convinced, having been inclined that 
way for years. As early as were repudiated 
those opinions which have been noticed, that of 
a future state of punishment was called in ques- 
tion, and in process of a few years was by many 
disbelieved. By the writer of these pages this 
doctrine has been doubted more than half a cen- 
tury, and for nearly forty years has been dis- 
believed, as being taught in the Scriptures. 
Difference of opinion on this question, though at 
one time, and for a little while, produced a rent 
among our clergy ; the healing power of the main 



ON TJNIVERSALISM. 37 

doctrine soon overcame all difficulty, which, for a 

long time, has given us no trouble. Though 

there are some now who believe in what is called 

future retribution, we know of none who pretend 

to prove it by Divine revelation, or dwell on it in 

their preaching. We know of no passages of 

Scripture, which teach the doctrine of a future 

state, which imply the existence of either sin or 

punishment in that state. Could we find any 

such testimony, we should then need Scripture 

proof that such sin and punishment will have an 

end, in order to be consistent Universalists. 

Owing to the age and infirmities of the writer 

of this article, he cannot expect to be able, much 

longer, to render any considerable service to the 

infinitely glorious cause to whose interest he has 

had the happy privilege of devoting his humble 

talents for nearly sixty years. But while holding 

himself ready to resign his armor, at the word of 

command, he cannot fully express his gratitude 

for what he sees of the w T onderful spread of truth, 

and for the numerous army which he will leave 

in its future defence. 
4 



ADVICE TO YOUNG MEN 

WHO DESIGN TO ENTER THE MINISTRY. 



It cannot appear unreasonable to any thinking, 
serious mind, that one who has spent nearly sixty 
years in the ministry of Christ, and his gospel, 
and whose lot has been to contend against those 
erroneous doctrines which for ages have held the 
minds of men in chains of darkness, and who, in 
conflict with the learned advocates of those doc- 
trines, has been compelled to bear all that reproach 
which the enemies of Divine truth felt themselves 
justified in heaping on one who showed no dis- 
position to cringe before them, or to shun exposing 
their errors, should, at that advanced age which 
evidently indicates that his labors are drawing 
to a close, feel a concern for, and be mindful of, 
those who may be called to the ministry of gospel 
truth hereafter. Not that he feels any con- 
cern for fear the cause of Divine truth will not 



ADVICE TO YOUNG MEN. 



39 



find faithful laborers in its defence ; for he now 
has the joy of beholding many around him, 
devoted to the work, and whose labors are evi- 
dently blessed. But it is to be feared that some, 
who have engaged in this profession, have either 
mistaken their proper calling, or have but too 
imperfectly prepared themselves for the duties 
and labors which the calling demands. 

A young man may be sincere, honest, a true 
believer, have a commendable zeal, and have a 
heart so warmed with the spirit of Christ, and of 
universal benevolence, that he may feel that it is 
his duty to enter the ministry at once, and devote 
himself to its public services ; and yet, it may be, 
he has mistaken his proper calling. There are 
many things which might be wanting in such a 
case. A want of a suitable education would be 
a serious objection to his immediate entrance into 
the ministry. In our country, and in our times, 
there is no necessity which requires a young man 
to engage in a profession, destitute of an education 
suitable to the performance of its duties. But 
there are other considerations to which careful 
regard ought to be paid, before the youth should 



40 



ADVICE TO YOUNG MEN 



decide to make the ministry his profession. Does 
he desire this calling, because it is honorable in the 
sight of the world ? If so, he is advised not to 
engage in it. If the honors of the world allure 
to this choice, the ministration of Divine truth 
will never be benefited by his labors, and he 
himself will be likely to live and wonder why he 
is so little esteemed. The hour is coming, and 
now is, when the pure gospel, in its simplicity, 
shall be the desire and delight of the people, and 
those who are true to its principles, and faithful 
in its ministration, will be partakers of that honor 
which cometh from God only. 

Any natural impediment in speaking, which 
cannot be overcome, is a sufficient objection. 
Let no one think of entering the ministry, with 
an expectation of living an easy, idle life ; or of 
moving- in fashionable circles, or of living luxu- 
riously. The ministry of the gospel wants no 
idlers ; it cannot endure them ; it requires much 
study, much labor, and constant care, that no part 
of duty is neglected. If a young man has a 
strong dislike to study and reading, he had better 
choose some other calling. The Bible should be 



WHO DESIGN ENTERING THE MINISTRY. 



41 



much read and carefully studied ; and there are 
many other books which should be read, to assist 
the minister of the word. Unless a strong desire 
to spend much time in fashionable circles can be 
overcome, and a disposition to be familiar with 
the poor acquired, there will be an indispensable 
qualification wanting. 

The youth who would enter the ministry 
should ask himself such questions as the follow- 
ing : Do I understanding^ believe in the exist- 
ence of that God of whom the Scriptures speak ? 
Do I sincerely believe in the inspiration of the 
prophecies concerning a Messiah ? Do I also 
believe that Jesus, who was crucified, was the 
true Messiah, and that he did the works which 
the New Testament inform us he did ? Do I 
believe that the crucified arose from the dead ? 
Do I believe that the benefits of the Christian 
dispensation were designed by our Creator for 
the final benefit of all men, and that, in the ful- 
ness of times, by the Father appointed, all men 
will become partakers of such benefit ? If, after 
due consideration, and after using all the neces- 
sary means to obtain satisfaction on these ques- 
4^ 



42 



ADVICE TO YOUNG MEN 



tions, they can be answered in the affirmative, so 
far as belief is concerned, there seems no objec- 
tion to the choice he has made of his future 
calling. But there is this question relative to his 
choice, which he ought duly to consider : Do I 
undertake the duties and labors of this profession 
because I love to perform them, and fully believe I 
shall enjoy these duties better than those of any 
other calling ? If this question cannot be answered 
in the affirmative, some business, some labor bet- 
ter liked, should be chosen. It cannot reasonably 
be supposed that a man will succeed well in 
a calling which he does not like. It should be the 
aim of parents and guardians, to find out what 
employment is best suited to the natural genius 
of those young men whom God has committed to 
their care, and to give them all necessary assist- 
ance in their power, to follow whatever honest 
calling best suits them. It is injudicious and 
unkind to persuade a young man, contrary to his 
inclination and choice, to engage in any profession 
or calling. If, for instance, a physician would 
prefer any other calling than his own, how reluc- 
tantly must he attend to all those intricate studies 



WHO DESIGN ENTERING THE MINISTRY. 



43 



which are necessary to his success, and to the 
saving of the lives of his patients ! And how 
painful must it be to him, to be called on at all 
hours, by day and by night, to attend the sick ! 
Destitute of a love of his calling, it is unreason- 
able to suppose the professed minister of the 
gospel will do that justice to his calling which 
the great variety of its duties requires, or enjoy, 
as every man should, the business in which he is 
engaged. 

As love is the great and most powerful prin- 
ciple which moves man to action, so it is the only 
principle on which reliance can safely be placed, 
that all required duties will be faithfully per- 
formed. Unless, therefore, a man is sensible 
that he loves all the great truths of the gospel of 
Christ more than all the salary he may obtain 
for ministerial services, and more than all the 
honors which people may bestow on him, the 
ministry is unsafe in his hands. Directed and 
impelled by this love, small natural abilities, as 
well as the great, will be found profitable in their 
several spheres of duty. But as to great and 
small, in relation to man's abilities, we are liable 



44 ADVICE TO YOUNG MEN 

to come to wrong conclusions. All the vast 
variety of talents given to man are useful and 
indispensable, and, if properly directed and em- 
ployed, are useful and estimable. Some preachers 
may possess what may be called popular talents, 
and draw, on occasions, large congregations ; 
others may not, in this respect, be equally 
esteemed ; but this difference by no means argues 
that the former class are the best ministers, or 
the most useful pastors. 

In respect to particular tenets, not included in 
those great principles of doctrine in which all 
who believe in those essential truths which distin- 
guish Universalists from other Christian denomi- 
nations agree, it is reasonable that every one 
should enjoy his own views, and defend them in 
his own way, without forfeiting Christian fellow- 
ship. At the present time, many preachers seem 
to be led into speculations with regard to the 
particulars of man's future state ; and, as might 
naturally be expected, a variety of opinions have 
been adopted. Some believe that all enter the 
future state in one and the same condition, as to 
moral purity; some think that it will require a 



WHO DESIGN ENTERING THE MINISTRY. 45 

process of purgation, to bring what they call the 
wicked into a state of holiness ; some think that 
there will be, in the future state, different grades 
as to intellectual and moral improvement, as there 
are in this mortal life ; some are of opinion that 
those who are here acquainted with each other, 
such as husbands and wives, such as parents and 
children, such as brothers and sisters, such as are 
here friends or enemies, w r ill know each other in 
the future world as they know them in this. 
And there are other speculative notions which 
are contended for, any or all of which may be 
assented to, without leading to a renunciation 
of the essential doctrine of Christianity, or of 
amounting to a just cause of a dissolution of 
Christian fellowship. As to giving advice to 
young men in regard to these speculations, it is 
deemed safe to say, that it must be unprofitable 
to spend much time or study to frame opinions 
nowhere intimated in the Scriptures, and the 
truth of which we have no means of ascertain- 
ing. It is well that we avoid any opinions which 
are used for evil ends. Should any one, by 
believing his great attainments, while in this 



46 ADVICE TO YOUNG MEN 

momentary state, are to place him far in advance 
of millions of others, in the future world, tend to 
fill his mind with pride and self-conceit, in place 
of doing him any good, it would deprive him of 
that meekness and humility which are essential 
to his present happiness, and cannot fail to lessen 
his usefulness. Or should any one urge the 
belief of such an opinion, as an inducement to 
others to improve in holiness and virtue, should 
he succeed, he would place that high station in 
the future world as the object to be gained, in 
place of holiness and virtue themselves ! In order 
to see this subject in its true light, let it be sim- 
plified as follows : True holiness consists in love 
to God and in love to mankind. Now, if we 
profess to love thus for the reward of a high 
station above our fellow-men in the future state, 
it is evident that it is not love to God nor love to 
man, but the love of being exalted above other 
men in the future world, which is the object of 
our love. Such is the real character of all our 
pretended obedience, while the expectation of a 
future reward is our motive. It is reasonable, 
therefore, that young ministers of the Word of 



WHO DESIGN ENTERING THE MINISTRY. 47 

Life should be cautious not to deceive them- 
selves, or anybody else, on a subject of such vital 
importance. 

It is to be feared that some, who profess Uni- 
versalism, and are engaged in the ministry, are 
desirous of rendering their labors acceptable to 
our brethren of the Unitarian denomination, by 
adopting such like opinions, and holding them 
forth in public. By so doing, they seem to indi- 
cate that their sympathies are rather with the 
Unitarians than with those Universalists who 
preach no other sentiments to their congregations 
than such as the Scriptures teach. 

On the subject which embraces the great field 
of ministerial study and preaching, some sugges- 
tions may be profitable. That great field is the 
Bible. While ministers profess to believe that 
the Scriptures contain a Divine revelation, and 
while they solemnly receive them as their guide 
in their profession, they ought not to neglect the 
study of them ; they should be read with great 
care and critical attention. By so reading this 
most valuable of all books, the minister becomes 
acquainted with the history of the chosen people, 



48 ADVICE TO YOUNG MEN 

their laws and customs, and with much of the 
history of other nations who surrounded them. 
Also, by such reading, an acquaintance is obtained 
with the promises which God made to the patri- 
archs, and with all the prophecies concerning- the 
Jews and other nations, and in particular with 
the prophecies concerning the Messiah, and. his 
reign on the earth. The New T Testament gives 
an account of the exact fulfilment of all the 
prophets spake concerning Christ; and gives us 
a true history of his teachings, his miracles, his 
precepts, his sufferings, his death, and resurrec- 
tion. Here, too, we have an account of the 
travels and labors of the apostles of Jesus, and 
many epistles written by them, all full of matter 
from which may be drawn all possible subjects 
necessary to furnish the preacher with the bread 
of life, with which he may abundantly feed the 
people with knowledge and understanding. 

The custom which now seems to prevail, of 
reading a text of Scripture as the subject of a 
sermon, and then delivering a discourse suitable 
for a lyceum lecture, having no special reference 
to the subject of the passage read, has a direct 



WHO DESIGN ENTERING THE MINISTRY. 49 

tendency to set the Scriptures aside, and to so 
corrupt public taste as to render the inspired 
Word undesirable. Should this practice so pre- 
vail as to become general, it must have the effect 
of depriving society of the rich instruction deriv- 
able from that treasure which is designed to 
make us wise unto salvation. 

We may be asked if no other books are to be 
read than the Bible ? To this question the 
answer is, any book may be profitably studied, 
which can assist the preacher to understand the 
Scriptures, and to learn their true sense. There 
are many learned annotations, by many authors 
of different denominations, any of which may 
doubtless be of service to the young preacher, 
who, by their assistance, may make himself 
acquainted with the manners and customs, laws 
and governments, of different people of which the 
Scriptures speak. This knowledge is necessary, 
in order to understand the many figurative 
portions of Scripture ; but let the student put 
little dependence on the correctness of the appli- 
cation of Scripture, in proof of any doctrine, found 
m annotations. It is not safe to use annotations 
5 



50 



ADVICE TO YOUNG MEN 



as authority to prove the truth of any doctrine. 
The best authority by which we may determine 
the true application of Scripture, is the Scriptures 
themselves. If we are in doubt as to the mean- 
ing of any particular passage, search the Scrip- 
tures to find what other passages say on the same 
subject; and by a careful comparison, the < true 
meaning will appear. Nor would we restrict the 
young preacher to the Bible, and to annotations 
on the Bible ; if he has not already made himself 
acquainted with ancient and modern history, and 
with the history of the church, he should improve 
all the time he can spare from other duties, to 
read approved historians. As to other lighter 
reading, the preacher should be cautious that 
time is not wasted on that which is of no profit. 
But we ought not to neglect to make ourselves 
acquainted with any solid improvement which 
may favor our own times. 

Reformation and general improvement are now 
loudly called for, by the demands of the age, and 
it is rebellion against the evident requirements 
of Divine wisdom, to blindly oppose what the 
good of our race calls for. But wisdom, which 



WHO DESIGN ENTERING THE MINISTRY. 51 



dwells with prudence, should be allowed to direct 
all our enterprises ; and great caution is neces- 
sary, lest we injure a good cause. Jesus said : 
" Every plant which my heavenly Father hath 
not planted shall be rooted up ! " But he would 
not allow such premature labor as would waste 
and destroy the wheat with the tares. The first 
thing that we should make ourselves sure of, is 
that we know what manner of spirit we are of, 
and that the water we are about to use for the 
purpose of cleansing is not as filthy as is that we 
would cleanse. Our conservative brother should 
be treated kindly. There may be a mote in his 
eye, but the eye is a tender, sensitive member, 
and a rude, unskilful effort to remove the mote 
may destroy the sight. By these suggestions, is 
intended to show the necessity of being guided by 
a right spirit. This spirit is love, impartial love. 
One of the reformations which the age now calls 
for, is the abolition of slavery. Let us take this 
subject as a sample. Here, then, are the poor, 
unhappy, wronged slave, and his unfeeling master. 
Now, if we love the slave and hate the master, 
what do we more than others, who are no more 



52 ADVICE TO YOUNG MEN 

partial than ourselves? While we regard the 
rights of the slave, and pity him, should we feel 
no pity for the owner of the slave, who, perhaps, 
has had no agency in becoming the unblest 
possessor of such forbidden property ? That 
slavery is a sin, in the eye of Christianity, and 
in the eye of humanity, all must allow;, but 
where it exists it is a legalized sin, and it lies 
at the door of those who have made the laws. 
We may, by God's blessing, as ministers of an 
impartial gospel, do much in communicating 
that enlightening truth, which, when universally 
known, will give freedom to all men. 

" Take heed to thyself," is an apostolic injunc- 
tion. Every young minister is advised to have 
a careful eye on himself. We have no enemies 
who can inflict on us such deadly wrongs, as 
those we are in danger of receiving from our own 
imprudence. " Who is he that will harm you, 
if ye be followers of that which is good ? " 

It seems evident, that God has called but few, 
if any, to labor in the ministry of universal sal- 
vation, who are rich in temporal means of a live- 
lihood. Our preachers are, therefore, generally 



WHO DESIGN ENTERING THE MINISTRY. 53 

dependent on the people to whom they minister, 
for their support, and the support of their families, 
if they have any. In connection with this fact, 
another should be considered. The largest part 
of community who adhere to our faith are the 
laboring class. From these considerations, it 
follows, that the minister should live in so 
prudent a manner as not to be too burdensome 
to his supporters, nor to involve himself in debts 
beyond his means of paying. Too often has it 
happened that, owing to embarrassments, preach- 
ers have left their places and societies, owing 
their best friends, who have labored hard and 
lived prudently, to save what the imprudent 
minister has spent and will never pay. To point 
out all the evils growing out of such facts would 
require a volume. 

Meekness and humility are recommended to 
young preachers. Without such virtues, little 
peace or contentment can be enjoyed. The young 
are too apt to think and to feel that it is due to 
them to occupy as favorable stations as do those 
who have labored many years, and encountered 

hardships which those who now engage in 
5* 



54 



ADVICE TO YOUNG MEN. 



our ministry will, if they are prudent and faith- 
ful, never be called on to endure. " Let patience 
have its perfect work." The way to gain much 
is to be faithful in a little ; and be assured, that 
in the little, there is, to say the least, as much 
real enjoyment, as in ever so much. 

The ministry is a spiritual warfare. There- 
fore, " Put on the whole armor of God, that ye 
may be able to stand against the wiles of the 
devil. — Stand, therefore, having your loins girt 
about with truth, and having on the breastplate 
of righteousness; and your feet shod with the 
preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, 
taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be 
able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." 

If the foregoing advice and suggestions shall, 
by the blessing of God, in any degree promote 
the cause of truth and righteousness, and be of 
any service to those for whose good I earnestly 
pray, for it let God be glorified. 



A SERMON, 

Delivered in Bleeker Street Church, New York, at the Session 
of the General Convention of Universalists, Sept. 16, 1847. 



" I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, 
that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable 
unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not 
conformed to this world ; but be ye transformed by the renew- 
ing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and 
acceptable, and perfect will of God." — Rom. xii. 1, 2. 

The word therefore, in the first member of the 
text, shows that the apostle had reference to what 
he had said before. And here it is well to 
suggest a caution which all should regard, not to 
suppose that the commencement of a chapter is 
always the beginning of a subject. It is often 
otherwise. It is often necessary to go back, and 
to use care that w T e find where a subject begins, 
and to follow the connection, and keep the theme 
of the writer in mind ; otherwise we may read to 
no profit. When the apostle w T rote his epistles, 
he did not divide them into chapters and verses, 



56 



A SERMON. 



but wrote as we write our letters, without such 
divisions. These divisions were made for the 
purpose of fixing a concordance to the Scriptures. 

The subject on which our author labored in 
the preceding chapter, and to which he alludes 
in the first verse of our text, is that of the mercies 
of God. "I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by 
the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies 
a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which 
is your reasonable service," &c. 

Let us now endeavor to obtain an understand- 
ing of the inspired writer's argument respecting 
the Divine mercy, as manifested in the all-wise 
economy of God. 

This epistle was written to the Christian church 
at Rome, which was composed of both Jews and 
Gentiles ; and an important object of the writer 
was to do away that prejudice which existed in 
the minds of the two people towards each other. 
We find, therefore, on reading this epistle, that 
the writer speaks sometimes to his brethren, the 
Jews ; at other times, to Gentile Christians. 

In the eleventh chapter, the writer addresses 
the Gentile Christians in regard to the Jews, who 



A SERMON. 57 

had rejected Christ and his doctrine ; had stum- 
bled at the stumbling-stone which God laid in 
Zion, and were broken off through unbelief, and 
is careful to show them that all this had happened 
to Israel, according - to the appointments of Divine 
wisdom, for the benefit of the Gentiles. See 
verse 11. "I say, then, have they stumbled that 
they should fall ? God forbid ; but rather through 
their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, to 
provoke them to jealousy." Here the apostle is 
careful to guard the Gentile Christians against 
supposing that the blindness and unbelief of Israel 
were designed for their final exclusion from Divine 
favor. See what follows. " Now, if the fall of 
them be the riches of the world, and the dimin- 
ishing of them the riches of the Gentiles ; how 
much more their fulness? For I speak to you, 
Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the 
Gentiles, I magnify mine office ; if by any means 
I may provoke to emulation them which are my 
flesh, and might save some of them. For if the 
casting away of them be the reconciling of the 
world, what shall the receiving of them be but 
life from the dead ? " 



58 



A SERMON. 



As wrong views of the Divine favor are gener- 
ally attended with pernicious effects on the human 
heart, causing it to be puffed up with pride, the 
apostle is careful to put his Christian brethren on 
their guard. See verse 25 and on. " For I would 
not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this 
mystery, (lest ye should be wise in your own 
conceit,) that blindness in part is happened to 
Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come 
in. And so all Israel shall be saved ; as it is 
written, There shall come out of Zion the deliverer, 
and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. 
For this is my covenant unto them when I shall 
take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, 
they are enemies for your sakes ; but as touching 
the election, they are beloved for the fathers' 
sake. For the gifts and calling of God are with- 
out repentance. For as ye in times past have 
not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy 
through their unbelief; even so have these also 
now not believed, that through your mercy they 
also may obtain mercy. For God hath concluded 
them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy 
upon all." Having brought this immensely im- 



A SERMON. 59 

portant and glorious subject to a close, and feeling 
his soul elated with views of Divine mercy so 
vast and wonderful, he exclaimed, " O the depth 
of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge 
of God ! how unsearchable are his judgments, 
and his ways past finding out ! For who hath 
known the mind of the Lord, or who hath been 
his counsellor ? Or who hath first given unto 
him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again ? 
For of him, and through him, and to him, are all 
things ; to whom be glory forever, amen." The 
next words are those of our text : " I beseech you, 
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that 
ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, 
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable 
service. And be not conformed to this world; 
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your 
mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and 
acceptable, and perfect will of God." 

Let it be kept in mind that the apostle presents 
the mercies of God, which effectually embrace the 
fulness of both Jews and Gentiles, as the founda- 
tion of all the Christian duty which he enjoins on 
believers in Jesus. By this we see that the 



60 A SERMON. 

mercy of God is not obtained by our obedience ; 
but our obedience is the natural fruit of the Divine 
mercy. And this is clearly expressed by the 
apostle to the Ephesians, thus : "But God, who 
is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he 
loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath 
quickened us together with Christ. . . . For 
by grace are ye saved through faith ; and that 
not of yourselves ; it is the gift of God ; not of 
works, lest any man should boast. For we are 
his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto 
good works, which God hath before ordained that 
we should walk in them." 

We will not proceed to enforce the duties 
enjoined in our text, until an important query, 
which is now undoubtedly agitating many minds 
in this assembly be duly solved. The question is, 
Of what benefit was the unbelief of the Jews to 
the Gentiles ? Or how was it that the Gentiles 
obtained mercy through the unbelief of the Jews ? 
In order the more easily to throw the light of this 
subject into the mind of the hearer, we will sup- 
pose that the Jews, as a people, with their rulers, 
and the whole estate of their elders, had received 



A SERMON. 



61 



Jesus as their expected Messiah ; had all repented 
of their sins, and believed the doctrine he taught ; 
what would they have done more ? Or how 
would they have treated the Son of God ? They 
would have pressed him to their bosoms ; the}* 
would have carried him in state and splendor 
from synagogue to synagogue ; they would have 
called on all the people of the land to hear the 
Divine Teacher ; and a glorious reformation would 
have been effected in the land. How your hearts 
now swell with delight at such a scene ! And 
how deeply do you regret that no such things took 
place ! But suppose these things had happened, 
would the prophecies of the Old Testament have 
been fulfilled ? Would what Isaiah says, in his 
53d chapter, all have taken place ? Would Jesus 
have been despised and rejected of men, — a man 
of sorrows and acquainted with grief? Would 
he have been wounded for our transgressions, and 
bruised for our iniquities ? Would the chastise- 
ment of our peace have been upon him ? And 
should we have been healed with his stripes ? 
Would he have been oppressed and afflicted ? 

Would he have been brought as a lamb to the 
6 



62 



A SERMON. 



slaughter ? It is seen at once, that, had not the 
Jews, as a people, been blinded as to the true 
character of Jesus, they would not have perse- 
cuted and put him to death, as was foretold by 
the prophets. How, then, could the gospel have 
been established in the world, founded on the fact 
of the death and resurrection of Jesus, according 
to the testimony of the prophets ? If those 
prophecies had not been fulfilled, and the disciples 
of Jesus had attempted to preach him among the 
Gentiles as the Messiah promised to the house of 
Israel, the Gentiles could have refuted them out 
of the prophets. But with what irresistible force 
of argument did the disciples proclaim the gospel 
to the Gentiles, founded on the entire fulfilment 
of all which the prophets have said ! The dis- 
course which Paul delivered in the synagogue of 
the Jews at Antioch, in Pisidia, had a much 
more favorable effect on the Gentiles than on the 
Jews. In that discourse, the apostle holds the 
following language : " Men and brethren, children 
of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among 
you feareth God, to you is the word of this salva- 
tion sent. For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and 



A SERMON. 



63 



their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet 
the voices of the prophets which are read every 
Sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in con- 
demning him. And though they found no cause 
of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he 
should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all 
that was written of him, they took him down 
from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. But 
God raised him from the dead. And he was 
seen many days of them which came up with 
him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his wit- 
nesses unto the people. And we declare unto 
you glad tidings, how that the promise which was 
made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the 
same unto us their children, in that he hath 
raised up Jesus again." Such a powerful appeal 
carried conviction to the minds of the Gentiles, 
who desired to hear the apostle the next Sabbath. 
Our subject is now clear ; and we see that the 
blindness and unbelief of the Jews were the means 
of carrying the gospel to the Gentiles, which 
explains the sense and propriety of the Saviour's 
address to his Father, where he said, " I thank, 
thee, O Father. Lord of heaven and earth, because 



64 



A SERMON. 



thou hast hid these things from the wise and 
prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. 
Even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy 
sight." Well did Jesus know the consequence 
to himself of the blindness of the Jews, and yet 
he thanked his Father for it ! 

I have often thought with wonder, that our 
Christian doctors should think and speak so much 
in commendation of the sufferings of Jesus, and 
prize those sufferings so highly as they do, and 
yet are confident that those who inflicted those 
sufferings were therefore justly rejected from that 
mercy of God, which they believe they enjoy, 
which comes to them through those sufferings ' 
However, we have seen that God concluded both 
Jew and Gentile, all in unbelief, that he might 
have mercy upon all. 

If it be objected to the arguments to which we 
have attended, that we make out that the wicked 
conduct of the Jews was so overruled by the 
divine wisdom and mercy of God, that it resulted 
in their benefit, so far from denying the justice 
of the inference, we contend for the principle it 
embraces, and for its righteousness. No one, 



A SERMON. 65 

acquainted with the Scriptures, will deny that 
God overruled the wicked conduct of Joseph's 
brethren for their good. Now this a righteous 
God would not have done, if it had not been 
right; and if it was right to do so in one case, it 
is right in all cases. This theory will justify 
itself in a practical trial. My friend, you have 
an enemy who wishes to do you harm, and 
wrongs you in various instances. Now what is 
your duty in this case ? In the first place, it is 
your duty to love your enemy. You have a 
right, if you can, so to manage as not only to 
render your enemy's wrongs to you harmless, 
but beneficial. And it is right, also, to go still 
further, and so manage as to render your enemy's 
wrongs beneficial to himself. This is overcoming 
evil with good; and this principle is the very 
foundation and essence of the gospel, and of all 
true religion. This is the pure wisdom of God, 
and all which comes short of it, or opposes it, has 
no higher origin than the wisdom of this world, 
which cometh to nought. 

Let us now proceed to enforce the duty enjoined 
in our text, on the broad foundation of the mercies 
6* 



66 



A SERMON. 



of God, and the reasonableness of offering our 
bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto 
God. In support of the reasonableness of this 
service, two arguments may suffice. Let us, for 
a moment, contemplate ourselves, — our physical 
organization. How " fearfully and wonderfully 
we are made ! " God is the author of every part 
and faculty belonging to our bodies. We had nb 
hand in this work. We possess not a single 
member of our frames because we asked for it, 
or desired it. All our senses are the free gifts 
of our Creator; and are all organs of pleasure 
and enjoyment. Consider, for example, the eye. 
The gift, how precious ! All the wealth of the 
world could not tempt us to part with it. Its 
utility should be appreciated with gratitude to its 
author. Who can estimate the value of that 
faculty by which we behold the beauties of nature, 
and see the faces of those we love ? Consider 
the ear. It would require a volume to describe 
its worth, its utility, and the enjoyments it affords. 
May I speak of the tongue and the faculty of 
speech ? Can we think a moment of this blessed 
gift without adoring the author of it ? How 



A SERMON. 67 

weighty is the admonition never to use this 
faculty to dishonor the giver ! Were all to regard 
this subject as they ought, our ears would never 
be offended with words of profanity, nor would 
the tongue ever be employed to defame, or inju- 
riously to deceive. If we duly realize that God 
is our Creator, and that we owe ourselves wholly 
to him, the reasonableness of the apostle's injunc- 
tion is apparent. But this reasonableness appears 
evident from the fact, that all the requirements 
of our heavenly Father, all the duties he has 
enjoined on us, are designed for our good and for 
our benefit alone. For himself, he needs not our 
service. He is infinitely independent. Does he 
command us to love him with all our heart ? It 
is because that in so doing we love everything 
that is capable of affording us enjoyment. Does 
he command us to love one another as we love 
ourselves ? It is because we cannot enjoy our- 
selves, nor our fellow-creatures, without this love. 
Just as deeply as we are interested in our own 
happiness, we are interested in keeping the com- 
mandments of God. In this correct view of the 
Divine requirements, we plainly discover the 



68 



A SERMON. 



reasonableness of the service enjoined in our text. 
And here, too, we have a clear understanding of 
the doctrine of Divine government in regard to 
rewards and punishments. Any compliance with 
moral duty brings a corresponding recompense of 
enjoyment ; any departure from moral duty is a 
corresponding discount on our happiness. This 
perfect law of our moral nature is so duly admin- 
istered, that no evasion can possibly be effected. 
For obedience, will any one ask for something 
better ? Will he say that something more is due ? 
Will he inform us what that something more and 
better is ? Is there anything in the universe 
better than love to God and love to mankind ? 
The psalmist gives us a correct statement of our 
subject in the 19th Psalm. " The law of the 
Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testi- 
mony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. 
The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the 
heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, 
enlightening the eyes ; the fear of the Lord is 
clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the 
Lord are true and righteous altogether. More 
to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much 



A SERMON. 69 

fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and the 
honeycomb. Moreover, by them is thy servant 
warned; and in keeping of them there is great 
reward." 

"And be not conformed to this world; but be 
ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." 
By this member of our text, we are reminded of 
the apostle's fears that the customs of the people 
of the age in which he lived would exert an 
influence to draw the minds and hearts of his 
Christian brethren into conformity with them. 
And who can wonder at his apprehensions ? The 
Jewish rites and ceremonies, their habits and 
prejudices, on the one hand, and those of the 
Gentiles, on the other, were so imposing, so very 
popular with the great body of the people, that it 
required little less than a perpetual miracle to 
preserve pure Christianity from a total contami- 
nation of their corrupt principles and practices. 
How natural was it for Jewish Christians to 
desire to make their religion acceptable to the 
Jews, and thereby avoid the contumely heaped 
upon them by those with whom they were so 
nearly connected ! Surely, the danger was not 



70 



A SERMON. 



small. Nor was this danger less with Gentile 
Christians. The idolatry in which they had 
been educated, and to which their fathers and 
mothers, their brothers and sisters, had been 
devoted, and still were devoted, was of an impos- 
ing character. It was expensive and splendid, 
and well adapted to gratify human pride and 
human passions. Who can wonder at the apos- 
tle's fear, as expressed to his brethren at Corinth ? 
" For I am jealous over you, with godly jealousy ; 
for I have espoused you to one husband, that I 
might present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent 
beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds 
should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in 
Christ." In the Jewish rituals and traditions, 
and in the superstitious devotions and abominable 
rites of the Gentiles, there was nothing wanting 
to cherish the pride, the vanity, and illicit desires 
of a blind multitude. All that wealth and learn- 
ing could do to impose on the common people, 
and keep them in ignorance and awe, was exerted 
with a vigilance peculiar to a hierarchy. In the 
high places filled by those priests, was lodged 



A SERMON. 



71 



that spiritual wickedness of which the apostle 
speaks in his epistles to the Ephesians. " Put on 
the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to 
stand against the wiles of the devil. For we 
wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against 
principalities, against powers, against the rulers 
of the darkness of this world, against spiritual 
wickedness in high places." 

With all the pomp, with all the glory, with all 
the wealth, and all the learning of the schools 
among both Jews and Gentiles, let us, for a moment, 
compare the simplicity that was in Christ. Born 
in a family which was supported by mechanical 
labor ; brought up in laborious habits ; destitute of 
wealth and the honors of the schools, he commenced 
his public labors. To assist him in the ministry of 
his doctrine, a few fishermen, and others of useful 
occupations, were chosen. The doctrine which 
Jesus taught was as simple and easy to under- 
stand as the common affairs of life. His sermon 
on the mount, containing the sublimest beatitudes 
and all the duties of life, requires but ordinary 
talents to understand. His manner of teaching 
by the use of parables communicated truth in 



72 



A SERMON. 



the most simple manner. When he justified 
his favor to publicans and sinners, of which he 
was accused by the Pharisees and Scribes, how 
simple was his method ! " What man of you, 
having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, 
doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilder- 
ness, and go after that which is lost, until he find 
it ? and when he hath found it, he layeth it on 
his shoulder, rejoicing. And when he cometh 
home, he calleth together his friends and neigh- 
bors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I 
have found my sheep which was lost." And how 
sublimely simple, if I may so say, was his appli- 
cation of his parable ! " I say unto you, that 
likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner 
that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine 
just persons, which need no repentance." On 
foot, see him travel from city to city. Fatigued 
and weary of his journey, see him resting him- 
self by Jacob's well at Sichar; and mark the 
simplicity of his conversation with the woman of 
Samaria. To set his disciples an example of 
humility, behold him who gave sight to the blind, 
hearing to the deaf, healing to the sick, sound- 



A SERMON. 



73 



ness to the maimed, and life to the dead, gird 
himself with a towel and wash their feet. 

How poorly has the simplicity which is in 
Christ been maintained by the Christian church ! 
Eead its history, in which we learn its conformity 
to such worldly institutions and customs as are 
pleasing to human ambition, and all the vain 
pride and corruption which characterized pagan 
idolatry. That subtilty with which the serpent 
beguiled Eve is constantly at work, persuading 
us to seek to render religion popular in the eyes 
of the world. That spiritual wickedness may be 
maintained in high places, high places must be 
established and supported. So deeply is the love 
of popular esteem rooted in the heart, that, it 
is to be feared, many are inclined to concede 
to opinions and customs inconsistent with their 
better judgment, for the sake of that shining 
phantom. 

The renewal of mind of which our text speaks, 
which raises the soul above the deceitful charms 
of that honor which men receive one of another, 
and directs its desires towards the honor which 
cometh from God only, will enable the disciple 
7 



74 A SERMON. 

of Jesus to renounce everything contrary to " that 
good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God," 
and to make proof of that will by gaining a correct 
knowledge of it, and by a practical conformity of 
heart and life to its divine principles. 

Of all subjects embraced in the science of 
theology, no one can take precedency of the. 
Divine will. This will must embrace the ulti- 
mate result of the Divine economy, as revealed 
in the gospel of man's salvation. This will is 
specifically set forth in the apostle's argument, 
which we have noticed while treating on the 
mercies of God. Had we time, it would be a 
most edifying labor to trace the Scripture declara- 
tions concerning this subject, commencing with 
the promises of God to the fathers, and following 
their corroborations through all the declarations 
of the prophets. But we must only add to what 
has already been said, several passages in the 
epistles of St. Paul. To the Ephesians he says : 
"Wherein he hath abounded towards us in all 
wisdom and prudence; having made known unto 
us the mystery of his will, according to his good 
pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself; 



A SERMON. 



75 



that in the dispensation of the fulness of times, 
he might gather together in one all things in 
Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are 
on earth, even in him ; in whom also we have 
obtained an inheritance, being predestinated 
according to the purpose of him who worketh all 
things after the counsel of his own will." In 
this form of expressing the will of God, we dis- 
cover the three characteristics of the Divine will 
which are named in our text : good, acceptable, 
and perfect. The apostle says that this will is 
according to God's good pleasure. Good, indeed ! 
What better will could even God himself have 
revealed ? All Jews and all Gentiles gathered 
together in one, even in Christ ? Surely, this is 
superlatively good. That this will, when put in 
execution, will be entirely acceptable to the mil- 
lions who shall be thus gathered together in one, 
even in Christ, there is no room to doubt. There 
will be no murmuring, no complaining, no envy- 
ing one another, nor contention about different 
merits and unequal attainments ; all will be one 
in Christ. The perfection of a will consists in its 
validity. If it be drawn according to law, and 



76 A SERMON. 

is just and right in all its parts, so that it cannot 
be broken or set aside, it is perfect. Now the 
apostle, after stating what God's will is, informs 
us that he " worketh all things after the counsel 
of his own will." 

To Timothy the apostle makes a declaration 
of the will of God, in such a guarded manner as 
to make it perfectly clear and easy of understand- 
ing. " I exhort, therefore, that first of all, sup- 
plications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of 
thanks, be made for all men ; for kings, and for 
all that are in authority ; that we may lead a 
quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and hon- 
esty. For this is good and acceptable in the 
sight of God our Saviour ; who will have all men 
to be saved, and to come unto a knowledge of the 
truth. For there is one God and one Mediator 
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus ; 
who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified 
in due time." To evade the plain sense of this 
passage has been attempted by theological law- 
yers and critics, often in vain. There it stands 
in the Divine word, and there it must stand until 
every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall 



A SERMON. 



77 



confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God 
the Father. 

Let us conclude with our text. " I beseech 
you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, 
that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, 
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable 
service. And be not conformed to this world ; 
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your 
mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and 
acceptable, and perfect will of God." 
7* 



A SERMON, 

Preached before the Massachusetts Convention of Univer- 
salists, at its session in Salem, June 6, 1849. 

[REPORTED BY REV. THOMAS WHITTEMORE.] 



"And in this mountain shall the Lord of Hosts make unto 
all people a feast of fat things." — Isaiah xxv. 6. 

I shall not, my brethren, make an apology for 
appearing before you. It occurred to me that I 
ought to do so ; but then the thought immedi- 
ately suggested itself, that my apology, perhaps, 
would itself require an apology; and, therefore, I 
shall leave each individual of the congregation to 
frame such an apology for me as he may think 
proper. I shall proceed immediately to consider 
the important doctrine of the text. And, 

1st. What is meant by "this mountain?" 
This is the question for consideration. If we 
look into the second chapter of Isaiah, we shall 
find that he speaks of this mountain in the fol- 
lowing terms : " And it shall come to pass in the 



A SERMON. 



79 



last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house 
shall be established in the top of the mountains, 
and shall be exalted above the hills ; and all 
nations shall flow unto it." (Verse 2.) Now 
you will please to observe the agreement between 
our text and the passage just recited. The text 
says, that in this mountain the Lord of hosts shall 
make a feast for all people; and in the passage 
before us, we are told that all nations shall flow 
unto it. Now, my friendly hearers, I wish you 
to fix your minds on the words all people. It 
would have been just as easy, that is, if God had 
directed it, for the prophet to have said some 
people as to have said all people. He might 
have said, " In this mountain shall the Lord of 
hosts make unto some people a feast of fat things." 
He might have said, " The mountain of the 
Lord's house shall be established in the top of 
the mountains, and some nations shall flow unto 
it." But the prophet says, all, — all people, all 
nations. Does not this text, my hearers, furnish 
a pretty good pretext for preaching a sermon on 
the gospel of Universalism ? In the next place, 
I shall call the attention of my hearers to the 



80 A SERMON. 

description of this mountain, which is found in 
Heb. xii. 18-24 : " For ye are not come unto the 
mount that might be touched, and that burned 
with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and 
tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the 
voice of words ; which voice they that heard, 
entreated that the word should not be spoken to 
them any more : (for they could not endure that 
which was commanded, and if so much as a 
beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or 
thrust through with a dart ; and so terrible was 
the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and 
quake :) but ye are come unto Mount Zion, and 
unto the city of the living God, the heavenly 
Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of 
angels, to the general assembly and church of the 
first-born, which are written in heaven, and to 
God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just 
men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of 
the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, 
that speaketh better things than that of Abel." 
This mountain that might not be touched was 
Sinai, from, which the law was given under cir- 
cumstances of solemn grandeur. The people 



k 



A SERMON. 



81 



were afraid. But the Christian Hebrews had 
not come to that mountain, but they had come 
to Mount Zion. And what was Mount Zion ? 
It was the city of the living God; it was the 
heavenly Jerusalem ; where the Hebrew Chris- 
tians mingled with the general assembly and 
church of the first-born, whose names are written 
in heaven. They had entered into the society 
of God's faithful servants. The Revelator said : 
" And he carried me away in the spirit to a great 
and high mountain, and showed me that great 
city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of 
heaven from God." (xxi. 10.) Now hear his 
description of the New Jerusalem. " And I, 
John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming 
down from God out of heaven, prepared as a 
bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a 
great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the 
tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell 
with them, and they shall be his people, and God 
himself shall be with them, and be their God. 
And God shall wipe away all tears from their 
eyes ; and there shall be no more death, neither 
sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any 



82 A SERMON. 

more pain; for the former things are passed 
away." (2-4.) Now, my hearers, this moun- 
tain, in all the cases in which it is mentioned, is 
the same as mentioned by Daniel the prophet. 
He saw a stone cut out of the mountain without 
hands, which, we are told, became a great moun- 
tain and filled the whole earth. Now, this was 
explained to the prophet to be the kingdom set 
up by the God of heaven, which shall never be 
destroyed ; " and the kingdom shall not be left to 
other people, but it shall break in pieces and con- 
sume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for- 
ever." Dan. ii. 44. This mountain, then, we 
see, signifies the kingdom of Christ, the gospel 
covenant. There are many honest divines who 
are misled in regard to this New Jerusalem ; 
they think it is something that appertains not to 
this world; it cannot be found here; they think 
it is in the future state. But, my hearers, you 
should not forget that it came down from heaven 
to earth, — yes, came down from heaven, and John 
saw it descend, in his vision. God was in that 
New Jerusalem when it descended, and came 
down with it, in order that he might dwell with 



A SERMON. 



S3 



men on the earth. And hark ! Hear those who 
walk in the light of it, singing the praise of the 
Redeemer, and saying, " For thou wast slain, and 
hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of 
every kindred, and tongue, and people, and 
nation ; and hast made us unto our God kings 
and priests ; and we shall reign on the earthy 
Rev. v. 9, 10. This mountain, then, this New 
Jerusalem, has respect to something in this earth ; 
it is the kingdom which Christ set up in this 
world. 

But here it may be asked, does not the 
speaker believe in the future immortal state ? 
Yes, my friends, I do believe, and I rejoice in 
the belief, in life and immortality beyond the 
grave. And I believe that this life and immor- 
tality are brought to light by the gospel. Brought 
to light, observe, not created through the gospel. 
We all believe this — it is one of the principal 
glories of our faith. 

Now, we will proceed to another subject. 1 
wish to ask you this very important question : 
Is there anything unreasonable in supposing, if 
God were going to make a feast at all, that he 



84 



A SERMON. 



would make it for all people ? Think of this. 
After all the preaching you have heard, after all 
the defences of orthodoxy, is there anything 
unreasonable in supposing, if God our heavenly 
Father were going to make a feast, that he would 
make it for all people ? Now, let us vary the 
question a little. If God, our universal Father,' 
were going to make a feast for mankind, is it not 
very unreasonable to suppose that he would make 
it only for a part ? Is there a parent — one who 
is worthy to bear that precious name — who, if 
he were going to make a feast for his children, 
would not, if possible, make a feast for all of 
them ? If he had twelve children, would he 
make a feast for four, and reject the eight ? 
"What would you think of him ? Thank God, 
there is no such man ! But suppose a man 
should do so, what would you think of him ? 
And then suppose he should tell you that he was 
seeking the good of his whole family, — that he 
was seriously and earnestly seeking the greatest 
good of the whole family, — and should try to 
make it so appear to you, — should use glosses, 
and subterfuges, and prevarications, in order to 



A SERMON. 



85 



make you believe that he was really seeking- the 
greatest good of the greatest number, what would 
you say to him ? 

Now, look at the effect of this conduct, and 
these instructions, on the minds of the children. 
You go to the four who are selected to enjoy 
the feast, and you say to them, " Are not your 
brothers and sisters coming to the table ? " They 
answer you, "No." "Well," you inquire, "are 
you not glad ? " They say, " No, — we want 
them to come ; our spirit yearns to have them 
come. We have prayed earnestly to our father 
to permit them to come ; but, in his inscrutable 
wisdom, he judges that it is not wise that it shall 
be so." " But," you ask, " how does this appear 
to you ? Does it not give you great pain ? " 
They reply, " Yes, with our present wisdom and 
our present sympathies, it seems very dark, and 
gives us great pain ; but our father teaches us 
that we shall be more enlightened by and by, 
and that our feelings will be changed ; we shall 
become more reconciled to his will, and then we 
shall be satisfied." Such is the pretence. Now, 
do you not see, my hearers, that this amounts to 
8 



86 



A SERMON. 



just nothing ; that it is no justification of the 
father's conduct ? But it amounts to just as 
much as all the arguments that are used to 
defend partialism. 

But now we will look at this matter in another 
point of view. Suppose the parent is actually 
unable to provide a full feast for all his children. 
This cannot, indeed, be true of the Almighty. 
But we will suppose that the parent were actually 
unable to provide a feast for all. What would 
he do then ? Would he not, if he were wise and 
impartial, divide the little among the whole ? and 
let it go as far as it would to satisfy the wants of 
all ? But is God deficient in means, my hearers ? 
O no ; we all know he is not. Then if he does 
not provide for all, it must be because he has not 
the will to do so. Yes, that is the true reason, — 
the want of a will. Hark ! there comes across 
the mighty deep a cry from Ireland — many are 
suffering and dying for the want of food. We 
sit down to our tables to eat, and we think of 
the famishing thousands in Ireland. How were 
the vessels loaded with provisions, to feed the 
hungry ! Well, we will suppose the vessels have 



A SERMON. 



87 



arrived there ; and now we will ask, what shall 
be done with this food ? It is evident there is 
not half enough to supply the whole. But it is 
ascertained that by a certain modification it will 
supply the wants of all. Now, what shall we 
do ? Shall we make that modification, and thus 
supply the wants of all ? or shall we refuse to do 
it, and then invent the best apology for not doing 
it? "0," you say, "feed all, feed all." Let it 
do all the good it can, just as this sun does 
which is shining down upon us to-day. He does 
all the good he can. He shines freely on all. 
He is not afraid that he shall happen to shine on 
some poor miserable sinner. No, he shines on 
all ; for God " maketh his sun to rise on the evil 
and on the good ; and sendeth rain on the just 
and on the unjust." 

As there is no lack of means in God, — as it 
is no more expensive to him to make a feast for 
all than for some, — that is enough; it seems to 
settle the question. 

But we hear much said, by divines, about the 
provisions which God has made ; we are told 
God has made the most liberal provisions for all. 



88 A SERMON. 

In saying this, the clergy think they are liberal, 
very liberal. But then you will remember, that 
they have a plan in reserve, a contrivance in 
secret, that all shall not partake of the provisions. 
This is a part of the creed; it ends just as it 
would if the feast had been made only for a part. 
It is the same in the end, — it is partiality. If 
I was seeking to get your property away from 
you unjustly, it would not make much difference 
by what rule of arithmetic I did it. It might be 
done by one rule, or another ; but if the quotient 
came out so that I should get your property, it 
would be precisely the same thing in the end, — 
would it not ? It would make no difference by 
what rule of arithmetic I came to it. 

Having given attention to these important 
matters, I now wish to call your attention to the 
fact that God represents his truth by provisions, 
by something to eat and drink. The metaphor 
is constantly occurring in the Scriptures. " Ho, 
every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, 
and he that hath no money ; come ye, buy and 
eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without 
money and without price." Isaiah lv. 1. So 



"~1 



A SERMON. 



S9 



you heard in the discourse to which you listened 
yesterday the divine command, " Feed my 
lambs." The prophet says, " With joy shall you 
draw water out of the wells of salvation." On 
the great day of the Jewish feast, Jesus stood 
and cried, "If any man thirst, let him come to 
me and drink." " The bread of God is he that 
came down from heaven to give life to the world." 
Now, my brethren, what is this bread? — this 
wine ? — this water ? — this milk ? They repre- 
sent the gospel ; the gospel is represented by 
something nutritious, by something to eat and 
to drink. Remember this ; it will drive away 
a dark cloud of error from your mind. It will 
dispel the delusion, that there is to be, some- 
where, or sometime, in eternity, a reward for us 
for doing our duty here. It is a pernicious error. 
Let us reason together. If it should happen 
there is no such reward, what would you do with 
your duty ? Some say, if there is no reward in 
eternity, they would not do their duty. But 
what a spirit is this ! They would not do their 
duty, if it were not for the hope of an extraneous 
reward ! Here, let me inquire, what is the com- 
8* 



90 



A SERMON. 



fort of the gospel ? What is the essence of the 
bread, the water, the wine, the milk ? Well, my 
hearers, it is nothing more or less than this, — 
it is obedience, — nothing else. It is obedience 
alone. Is that all ? Rather a dry morsel, some 
might say. But dry as it is, you can't have any-, 
thing else. If you do not have true obedience, 
there can be no reward ; and if you have true 
obedience, it will of itself be the richest reward 
you can possess. It is life, and health, and 
plenty, and peace. 

This will appear the more evident, if we con- 
sider what our duty consists in. What is our 
duty ? O look at the first and great command- 
ment of all. We are now coming to the pro- 
visions we have been speaking of. " Thou shalt 
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and 
with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and 
with all thy strength. This is the first and great 
commandment; and the second is like unto it, 
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On 
these two commandments hang all the law and 
the prophets." All the law and the prophets. 
Mark the language. This is the whole feast — 



A SERMON. 



91 



the only provision which God has made for the 
life of the soul. This is life, and the lack of it is 
death. 

And yet some ask, what are we to have for lov- 
ing God ? We will not love God without a reward. 
If there be no reward in eternity, for loving God 
here on earth, we will not love him ; we will 
revel in sin ; for the great reason why we ought 
to do good is to escape eternal damnation. Is 
there no reward hereafter for loving God ? Then 
we will not love him. This is the way the 
objector sometimes talks. But now, let us see 
this hypocrite before God. He asks his God to 
reward him for loving him ; and he states that 
he would not have loved God if it had not been 
for the expectation of the eternal reward. Now, 
my hearers, do you not see, after all, that it is 
not God that this hypocrite loved ? Do you not 
see that it is the reward which he loved, and 
which he sought ? and that in reality he did not 
love God at all ? See the child before his father. 
Does the child expect any reward for loving his 
father? No. What if the child should inquire, 
" Father, what will you give me, if I will lo\ r e 



92 



A SERMON. 



you?" Would you not see that the child did 
not love his parent at all, hat that it was the 
reward which it sought after ? 

My hearers, did you ever see anything you 
really loved, when you expected or desired any 
reward for loving it, except to possess the thing 
itself ? You never ask for anything else ; and it 
is well you do not, for there is no other true 
reward that you can have. The second com- 
mandment is, " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as 
thyself." What reward do you wish for this, 
except the obedience ? Look at a community in 
which each member actually loved his neighbor 
as he loved himself. O happy, heavenly people ! 
Now what reward shall they have therefor ? 
Nothing but the good itself. It is obedience to 
the divine command which is their happiness ; 
it is obedience which is their reward. 

As I speak without writing, and have not notes 
before me, I am liable to extend my discourse to 
too great a length. But there are a few points 
remaining to be spoken of. We have spoken of 
the metaphor of eating and drinking; and, my 
friendly hearers, I desire to ask you what reward 



A SERMON. 93 

you ever expect to have for eating and drinking ? 
Hear what David says in the 19th Psalm : " The 
statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; 
the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlighten- 
ing the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, 
enduring forever ; the judgments of the Lord 
are true and righteous altogether. More to be 
desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine 
gold; sweeter also than honey and the honey- 
comb." (Verse 8-10.) This shows you how 
men are to be rewarded for obeying God's com- 
mands. There is no extraneous reward. The 
commandments of God are sweeter than the honey- 
comb. What reward do you expect for eating 
the honey, dripping from the comb ? — What can 
you have that is sweeter than the thing itself? 
And observe again, the Psalmist says, " In keep- 
ing, [mark the words] in keeping of them is great 
reward." The reward is in the deed. The 
reward is the obedience itself. 

But the objector will now ask, " Ah ! what if 
man will not eat ? What will be done then ? 
If they do not all eat, what will you say ? " I '11 
tell you. If they do not all eat, they won't enjoy 



94 



A SERMON. 



the benefits flowing therefrom. But will not the 
gospel feast attract them ? I quoted you a text 
from the prophet on this wise, — " and all nations 
shall flow unto it." There is a powerful attrac- 
tion in the gospel. The people are drawn to it. 
A thirsty man is drawn to pure waters that he 
may drink; so shall the nations flow to the 
gospel. The objector has not so much confidence 
in men as he has in the brutes. If you have a 
living spring in your pasture lands, you have no 
fear that your beasts will die of thirst. You do 
not appoint some person to watch them, and drive 
them to the waters, lest they fail to go. You do 
not think it needful to whip them in order to 
make them go and drink. Is it needful, then, to 
drive men to the gospel fountain ? No ; for " all 
nations shall flow unto it." 

And now, let me ask, where is this feast ? — 
where is this fountain ? You need not go far to 
find it, my friendly hearers. It is not afar off. 
You need not ascend unto heaven, to bring it 
down from above ; you need not descend into the 
deep, to bring it up from beneath ; for the word is 
nigh thee, even in thy heart and in thy mouth ; 



A SERMON. 95 

that is, the word of faith which we preach. Yes, 
my hearers, it is in your heart already, if you 
will but obey it. There is something in our 
nature which is drawn by it. Jesus took the 
child, and set it in the midst of his disciples, and 
bade them be like it. There is something in the 
human soul that pants after God. It longs for 
the truth, as for living water. And what did the 
Redeemer say, — "It shall be within you a well 
of water, springing up into everlasting life." 

But I will draw to a close. I say, then, that 
in due time, in God's way, all will be brought to 
love him and to serve him, and consequently all 
will be happy. This is heaven — this always 
will be heaven. We do not believe in any other 
heaven besides this. 

Having shown you what the mountain is, and 
where is its location, and what are the provisions, 
and what is the extent of them, I submit the 
subject, hoping none of you will ever expect a 
better heaven than you will find in keeping the 
commandments of God. 



THE DOCTRINE OF 

UNIVERSAL SALVATION 

SHOWN TO BE INCLUDED IN THE DIVINE COMMANDS, 
AND EXPRESSED BY THEM. 



No opinion, unfriendly to Universalism, has 
been more generally entertained, or exerted a 
more unfavorable influence to the prejudice of 
the spread of the doctrine, than the belief that its 
natural tendency is unfavorable to the interest of 
true piety and obedience to the commandments 
of God. Among the causes of the existence of 
this opinion, we may here notice two. 

1st. Those who entertained the opinion were 
entirely ignorant of the nature of the salvation 
embraced in the doctrine. All the salvation they 
had in their minds, was to be saved from going 
to the hell, in the future state, in which they had 
been taught to believe. 2d. They appear to have 
been equally in the dark respecting the nature of 



DIVINE COMMANDS. 97 

that influence by which men are enabled to obey 
the divine commands. The fear of hell torments 
was relied on to lead sinners to repentance, and to 
the use of those means whereby they might 
escape what they were taught so much to dread. 
Under these circumstances, the mere report of a 
doctrine which disallows the endless torments 
for any of the human family, in which the people 
believed, filled them with surprise, as it removed 
the very influence on which dependence was 
placed to carry on the work of salvation. The 
opinion, which has been here noticed, does not 
now prevail in community as it formerly did; 
nor is it now so much in use against Universalism 
as it was a few years since ; and it is here intro- 
duced merely for the introduction of what shall 
follow, and to show, in times to come, what igno- 
rance divine truth has had to contend with. 

If success should attend our effort to show that 
the doctrine of universal salvation is included 
in the divine commands, and expressed by them, 
it will enable the reader to make a comparison 
between the opinion above noted, and the real 
truth and nature of the doctrine to which that 
9 



yS DIVINE COMMANDS. 

opinion was opposed, greatly to the advantage of 
the doctrine. 

In executing this endeavor, we will begin with 
what Jesus called the first and great command- 
ment, recorded Deut. vi. 4, 5 : " Hear, Israel ; 
the Lord our God is one Lord. And thou shalt 
love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and' 
with all thy soul, and with all thy might." 
Compare this with Matt. xxii. 37-40: "Jesus 
saith unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy 
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, 
and with all thy mind. This is the first and 
great commandment. And the second is like 
unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 
On these two commandments hang all the law 
and the prophets." With this second command- 
ment, as by Jesus expressed, compare Lev. xix. 18 : 
' ; Thou shalt not avenge nor bear any grudge 
against the children of thy people ; but thou shalt 
love thy neighbor as thyself; I am the Lord." 
Let us now carefully examine this first and great 
command, to ascertain whether it includes uni- 
versal salvation. Two questions must here be 
answered. 1st, Is this first and great command 



DIVINE COMMANDS. 99 

binding on all men ? And, 2d. Does loving God 
with all the heart, &c, constitute the salvation 
of which the Scriptures speak ? It is deemed 
useless to argue to prove that the command is 
universally binding, as no one can doubt it. But 
will all allow that loving God with all the heart 
includes our salvation? If this be allowed, our 
undertaking is accomplished, as the reader must 
clearly see. If the divine command is salvation. 
and if it is universally binding, then is universal 
salvation included in the command, and expressed 
by it. Those who are in the habit of believing 
that God requires us to love him as a condition 
on which he will release us from the awful doom 
of endless woe, may not, at first thought, under- 
stand our subject as we could wish. With such 
we must reason. It seems to them that if they 
are not to be released from the doom which the}" 
dread, and rewarded with everlasting bliss here- 
after, for loving God and keeping his commands 
in this world, they have no inducement to do 
these things. But if they will be candid with 
themselves and with their God, they must see 
that they have deceived themselves. Suppose 



100 DIVINE COMMANDS. 

their bargain should succeed, and they should 
really suppose that their love of God was genuine, 
and God should ask them why they loved him, 
and they should honestly answer, — We loved 
you for our release from hell, and for the endless 
bliss of heaven. Could all this take place, and 
these deceived hypocrites not see nor understand' 
that it was not God that they loved, but the 
reward for which they pretended to do it ? If 
this query does not effectually open their eyes, 
we will propose another. If loving God with all 
the heart, and loving our fellow-creatures as we 
love ourselves, do not constitute that bliss which 
salvation implies, in what does this bliss consist? 
This question must be answered, or the bliss of 
obeying the commandments of God be allowed to 
constitute salvation. The fact is, the doctors of 
the church have committed the egregious and 
pernicious error of supposing that what really 
constitutes salvation is only the condition on 
which it is bestowed. Thus, obedience to all the 
divine requirements, which constitutes what the 
Scriptures mean by righteousness, is not salvation, 
but creature labor, which is to be rewarded in the 



DIVINE COMMANDS. 101 

future world by being admitted into what is 
called heaven, in room of being doomed to hell. 
Suppose this were the case, may we not ask the 
question, whether the blessed in heaven are 
released from obeying the commandments of God, 
or whether they will earn as much by obedience 
in the eternal world as they did in this ? In this 
world they would have had no inducement to 
obedience had there been no hell hereafter to 
shun, and no heaven to obtain thereby. What 
inducement can they have in heaven to continue 
in obedience ? 

Hoping that the foregoing reasoning is sufficient 
to show that obedience to the divine commands 
constitutes what the Scriptures mean by salvation, 
let us proceed to notice the language of Scripture 
in agreement with the subject. " Thou shalt call 
his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from 
their sins." " I am not come to call the righteous 
but sinners to repentance." Repentance has been 
erroneously held as a condition of salvation, while, 
in fact, it is salvation itself; for by repentance 
we are saved from sin, which is all the salvation 
we need. "But I say unto you, love your 
9# 



102 DIVINE COMMANDS. 

enemies, do good to them that hate you, and 
pray for them that despitefully use you and per- 
secute you." " Whatsoever ye would that men 
should do unto you, do ye even so unto them ; 
for this is the law and the prophets." Obedience 
to these divine precepts is the righteousness which 
God requires of all mankind, and constitutes that 
salvation of which the apostle thus speaks : — 
" This is good and acceptable in the sight of God 
our Saviour ; who will have all men to be saved, 
and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For 
there is one God, and one mediator between God 
and men, the man Christ Jesus ; who gave him- 
self a ransom for all, to be testified in due time." 
" Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem 
us from all iniquity ; and purify unto himself a 
peculiar people, zealous of good works." " Hus- 
bands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved 
the church, and gave himself for it; that he might 
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water 
by the word ; that he might present it to himself 
a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or 
any such thing; but that it should be holy, and 
without blemish." Such declarations show most 



DIVIDE COMMANDS. 103 

plainly the nature of salvation, and that it con- 
sists in obedience to the divine commands. 

The commandments of our heavenly Father 
are represented by that which is good for food, 
and desirable to the taste. See in the nineteenth 
Psalm : " The law of the Lord is perfect, con- 
verting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is 
sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of 
the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the com- 
mandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the 
eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring 
forever ; the judgments of the Lord are true and 
righteous altogether. More to be desired are 
they than gold, yea, than much fine gold ; sweeter 
also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover, 
by them is thy servant warned, and in keeping 
of them is great reward." If the law of the Lord, 
and its commandments, statutes, and judgments, 
do all for us which is set forth in the above pas- 
sage, most surely it requires and accomplishes all 
the salvation which mankind need. All the 
duties required by this law of our heavenly 
Father are here represented to be sweeter than 
honey, or the honeycomb. Hear the language 



104 DIVINE COMMANDS. 

of the prophet : " Ho, every one that thirsteth, 
come ye to the waters, and he that hath no 
money ; come ye, buy and eat ; yea, come, buy 
wine and milk, without money and without price. 
Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is 
not bread, and your labor for that which satisfieth 
not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye 
that which is good, and let your soul delight 
itself in fatness." Hear also the words of the 
divine Master : " In the last day, that great day 
of the feast, Jesus stood and cried : If any 
man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." 
" Blessed are they who do hunger and thirst 
after righteousness, for they shall be filled." 

As it has been made sufficiently clear, that 
obedience to the divine commands constitutes 
what the Scriptures mean by salvation, and that 
the joys of salvation are in the keeping of the 
divine commands, there is a manifest absurdity 
in supposing that any extraneous reward is to be 
expected for obedience. The absurdity is the 
same as would appear if a thirsty person should 
demand a compensation for drinking what is 
desirable to his taste, and which quenches his 



DIVINE COMMANDS. 105 

thirst; or as if an hungry man should refuse to 
eat food which he needs for nourishment, and 
which is perfectly suited to his appetite, unless 
he is sure of some compensation for the duty of 
eating ! 

Will it be said, that all which has been argued 
may be allowed, without establishing the doctrine 
of universal salvation, because it is not certain 
that all men will ever be brought to obey the 
divine commands ? To this we reply : — " The 
law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul ; 
the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise 
the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, 
rejoicing the heart ; the commandment of the 
Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes," &c. Can 
all this be done, and the subject of this law not 
saved from sin ? It does not appear to be pos- 
sible. If this law is equally binding on all men, 
we have good reason to believe that what it 
works for any it will in God's due time effect 
for all. 

There is one momentous truth clearly estab- 
lished by the first and great command, on which 
we rely for the accomplishment of universal 



106 DIVINE COMMANDS. 

obedience. It is granted that our heavenly 
Father does, in righteousness, command all men 
to love him with all the heart, which we have 
shown to comprehend universal salvation. Let 
us then ask the plain, simple question: — Does 
our heavenly Father love his offspring as entirely, 
as perfectly, as he requires them to love him ? — 
If he does, if he ever brings any to love him, he 
will bring all thus to love him. That God loves 
all whom he commands to love him, and loves 
them as perfectly as he requires them to love 
him, is even self-evident. If God did not love 
his offspring, it would be as unreasonable as it 
would be arbitrary for him to command them to 
love him. An apostle says, " We love him, 
because he first loved us." Again, — "He that 
loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love." 

It is that love of God to mankind, which was 
commended unto us, in that while we were yet 
sinners, Christ died for us, on which we depend 
for the accomplishment of the reconciliation of all 
things unto himself. 

Without special regard to the question about 
man's free will, and God's decrees, we may take 



DIVIXE COMMANDS, 107 

it for granted, that what the Scriptures plainly 
assert maybe safely believed. We therefore feel 
confident that the divine agency extends to the 
overruling of the hearts of men, as we are 
informed by the prophet Jeremiah. See chapter 
xxxi. 33, 34: "But this shall be the covenant 
that I will make with the house of Israel; after 
those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in 
their inward parts, and write it in their hearts ; 
and I will be their God, and they shall be my 
people. And they shall teach no more every 
man his neighbor, and every man his brother, 
saying, Know the Lord ; for all shall know me, 
from the least of them unto the greatest of them, 
saith the Lord ; for I will forgive their iniquity, 
and will remember their sin no more." 

The assurance which the foregoing considera- 
tions are calculated to afford gives no small con- 
solation and comfort, while encountering the 
sorrows and afflictions which are occasioned by 
sin and unbelief. Hope looks for the fulfilment 
of the divine requirements in ah on whom they 
are binding. Then will the whole family of man 
be filled with love to God and each other : and 



108 DIVINE COMMANDS. 

all hatred, and strife, forever done away. Every 
wanderer from the fold of the Great Shepherd 
shall return ; and when the last shall be brought 
in, there will be joy in heaven, unspeakable and 
full of glory. 



REMARKS OFFERED 

AT A RELIGIOUS CONFERENCE, WHERE MANY MINISTERS 
WERE PRESENT 



It has been often asserted, and no doubt by- 
many believed, that faith in Universalism would 
do to live by, but not to die by. Without 
attempting to analyze this trite objection to the 
blessed faith we profess to believe, we shall offer 
some suggestions in favor of the opinion, that a 
belief or a view of a desired fact, by inspiring 
the heart with unwonted joy, enables one not 
only to meet death without fear, but even to bid 
it welcome. 

These suggestions will be founded on facts 

which are substantiated by undisputed authority. 

The first event to which your attention is invited 

is the meeting of the patriarch Jacob with his 

10 



110 CONFERENCE SPEECH. 

dearly beloved but long lost Joseph. About 
twenty-three years had passed, after the bloody 
coat of his son caused him to believe that Joseph 
had been torn in pieces by some wild beast, and 
by that beast devoured, when his other sons 
brought him the unexpected intelligence that he 
was not only alive, but was lord of all Egypt ! 
Such was the improbability of this report, in 
Jacob's mind, his heart fainted, for he believed 
them not. But when he raised his eyes, and 
looked out, and saw the wagons which Joseph 
had sent to carry him to Egypt, he believed, and 
his spirit revived. And he said, It is enough ; 
Joseph, my son, is yet alive ; I will go and see 
him before I die." Now contemplate the aged 
patriarch, with his sons and their families, on 
their journey to Goshen in Egypt, where Joseph, 
in his chariot, meets them, and presents him- 
self to his father. The scene is tender and 
affecting beyond description. Thus reads the 
account: " And Joseph made ready his chariot; 
and went up to meet Israel his father to Goshen ; 
and presented himself unto him ; and he fell on 
his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. 



CONFERENCE SPEECH. Ill 

And Israel said unto Joseph, now let me die, 
since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet 
alive." Here we are taught that the realization 
of a truth strongly desired produces an ecstasy 
of joy which enables one to bid to death a hearty 
welcome. 

Another very interesting circumstance is that 
recorded in Luke, concerning aged Simeon, 
which reads thus : " And, behold, there w r as a 
man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and 
the same man was just and devout, waiting for 
the consolation of Israel : and the Holy Ghost 
was upon him. And it was revealed unto him 
by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death 
before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he 
came by the spirit into the temple; and when 
the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for 
him after the custom of the law, then took he 
him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, 
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in 
peace, according to thy word ; for mine eyes have 
seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared 
before the face of all people ; a light to lighten 
the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel/ 



112 CONFERENCE SPEECH. 

Here was faith in salvation embracing all people, 
both Jews and Gentiles. The blessed babe was 
in his arms, and he could pray to depart. Was 
it a limited salvation which triumphed over death 
in this instance ? It was that faith, my friends, 
which our opposers say will do to live by, but 
not to die by. 

The dying scene of the renowned general who 
fell at the conquest of Quebec, in 1759, is illus- 
trative of our subject. When Wolfe, the brave 
commander, was mortally wounded, and carried 
from the field, at the decisive moment which 
assured victory to his troops, roused from faint- 
ing, in the last agonies, by the sound of " They 
fly ! they fly ! " he eagerly asked, " Who flies ? " 
And being told, the French, and that they were 
defeated, he said, "Then, I thank God, I die 
contented ! " and expired. Thus, the joy inspired 
by that glory only which encircles the plume of 
victory in war tranquillizes the dying hero. In 
view of those instances which have been noticed, 
who can doubt that a belief in that immortality 
and eternal life brought to light through the 
gospel, and expressed by the inspired apostle, 



CONFERENCE SPEECH. 



113 



who assures us, that as in Adam all die, even so 
in Christ shall all be made alive," can, even m 
death, awaken a joy far transcending such as 
arises from finite considerations ? 

For myself, after nearly sixty years of contest 
with the enemies of the doctrine we profess, I can 
truly say, that all trials and burdens have been 
rendered comparatively light, by the constant 
cheering tidings, they fly ! they fly ! In myself, 
feeble and weak as a child, I saw in truth itself 
the strong arm of conquest and certain victory. 
And now, old and weak in body, I lean on that 
paternal arm which has been my defence and 
support. And when I see around me, as it 
were, a host of fellow-soldiers, in the vigor 
of manhood and youth, all devoted to the 
defence of the gospel, and hear the good tidings 
from various parts of the onward march of 
truth, I can hardly believe, that the heart and 
spirit of old Jacob was more revived by the sight 
of the wagons which were to carry him to his 
beloved Joseph, than mine are by surveying what 
is spread out before me. 

Should it please God to grant me my reason 
10* 



114 



CONFERENCE SPEECH. 



at that day and hour when I shall be called 
away from earthly scenes, and from duties here, 
may I hear from you, my brethren, — may I say 
my children, — the cheering cry, "They fly! 
they fly!" 



THE UTILITY OF EVIL. 



Reader, do not be offended at the title of this 
short article, and call it impious. Will you say 
you never before heard that evil is useful ? — 
Will you say the suggestion is wicked, and could 
be made by no other than one who is wicked ? 
Well, suppose all which you imagine be true, 
may it not be well to be calm, and deliberately 
consider, that though you have never before heard 
of this thing, it may, notwithstanding, be a divine 
truth ? If you will be candid, and bring your 
mind into a suitable condition to be reasoned 
with, we will call you to the consideration of 
questions which, if properly answered, will lead 
us into the true light of our subject. 1st. Is evil 
self-existent ? If no one will allow this, there is 
no need of argument to disprove it. It follows, 
of course, that evil had a cause which produced 
it ; this is self-evident. 2d. Is it not equally self- 



116 



THE UTILITY OF EVIL. 



evident that the cause which produced evil, is 
good ? If we say that the cause which produced 
evil was evil, we thereby say that evil existed 
before it existed ! When these several points 
are understood, we are prepared to state the fol- 
lowing axioms : 

1st. That which had no beginning, had no 
cause to produce it. 2d. If we should say that 
good had an origin or a cause, we should be 
compelled to say that that cause was evil ! 
3d. If we allow that evil had an origin or cause, 
we must allow that the origin of evil is good. 

Will the reader now exclaim, and say, — This 
makes God the author of all the evil and sin 
which exist ? Well, suppose it does, does that 
prove the axioms false ? These are self-evident 
facts. That God is not the author of evil is 
not a self-evident fact. Two self-evident facts 
opposed to each other cannot exist. 

That the position we here take is supported 
by divine authority, we show by the following 
passage : — Isa. xlv. 7, " I form the light, and 
create darkness ; I make peace, and create evil. 
I the Lord do all these things." 



THE UTILITY OF EVIL. 117 

Having arrived safely at the conclusion that 
God is the author or creator of evil, and having 
so done on scriptural as well as on logical au- 
thority, we feel safe in drawing the following 
inferences: — 1st. Divine wisdom comprehends 

the fact, that evil is useful to a definite end or 

I 
purpose. 2d. That it cannot fail of answering 

the end for which it was designed. 

Let us now proceed to consider the utility of 
evil. And we will do this by the light and 
guidance of divine truth. See Rom. iii. 5 — 8 : 
" But if our unrighteousness commend the right- 
eousness of God, what shall we say ? Is God 
unrighteous who taketh vengeance ? (I speak as 

a man.) God forbid ; for then how shall God 

I 
judge the world ? For if the truth of God hath 

more abounded through my lie unto his glory, 
why yet am I judged as a sinner ? And not 
rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as 
some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil that good 
may come? whose damnation is just/' By what 
is here quoted, we clearly see that it was a doc- 
trine which Paul preached, that the unrighteous- 
ness of men commends the righteousness of God, 



118 



THE UTILITY OF EVIL. 



and that the truth of God abounds to his glory, 
through the falsehood of men. It is also evident 
that the enemies of the apostles understood 
enough of the doctrine of divine grace, to induce 
them to report the scandal, that they said, Let us 
do evil that good may come. By observing the 
last of Rom. v., and the first of vi., we see the 
same subject alluded to. "Moreover, the law 
entered that the offence might abound ; but where 
sin abounded, grace did much more abound; 
that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so 
might grace reign through righteousness unto 
eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord. What 
shall we say, then ? Shall we continue in sin, 
that grace may abound ? God forbid. How shall 
we that are dead to sin live any longer therein ? " 
Thus we see, that the slander which is so gen- 
erally reported in our times, unfavorable to those 
Avho preach that where sin abounded grace much 
more abounds, was rife in the days of the 
apostles. 

If unrighteousness or evil commend the right- 
eousness of God, we see therein its utility. See 
Rom. v. 8 : " But God commendeth his love 



THE UTILITY OF EVIL. 119 

toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, 
Christ died for us." Can any one avoid seeing 
that this commendation of the love of God could 
never have been, if there had been no sinners ? 
Such a commendation of the divine love as is 
here set forth, could never have been witnessed 
by the angels of God in heaven, nor could it ever 
have melted hard and sinful hearts into contrition 
and love, had sin never been. This subject may 
be well illustrated by an attention to what is 
embraced in the words of Jesus, where he says, 
" They that be whole need not a physician." 
Now, it is the sickness of the patient which 
commends the skill of the physician, and the 
virtue of the medicine which restores to health. 
All the medicines found in the mineral and vege- 
table kingdom would have been useless, and 
would have forever remained so, if there had 
been no disorders to be cured. And in this place 
it may be well to notice the impropriety of the 
slanderous report which has been mentioned 
above. The enemies of the truth say our doc- 
trine leads into sin ; and that, according to its 
teachings, we may do evil that good may come. 



120 THE UTILITY OF EVIL. 

Why then, we ask, is it not reasonable to sup- 
pose, that the patient restored to health, should, 
on that account, endeavor to become sick 
again, that the skilful physician, with his effica- 
cious medicine, may again cure him ? More- 
over, if our opposers contend, that, if we allow 
that God has a purpose to effect by moral evil, 
we may, on that account, endeavor to commit all 
the sin we can ; we ask, in return, why ministers, 
who urge this argument, do not, when they visit 
the sick chambers of their parishioners, say to 
the sick, that as it is true that God sends sick- 
ness for wise and good purposes, they may, con- 
sistently, endeavor, not only to remain sick, but 
to increase their sickness by all possible means ? 
Who that has read of the conduct of Joseph, 
the son of Jacob, towards his brethren who sold 
him, and made himself well acquainted with his 
virtues, can fail to admire the man and his 
lovely character ? But who will tell us how that 
admirable character, and those shining virtues, 
could ever have been known, or adorned the page 
of sacred history, if Joseph's brethren had never 
wrong-ed him ? Who can read the words of 



THE UTILITY OF EVIL. 121 

Joseph to his brethren without tears ? " And 
Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, 
I pray you : and they came near. And he said, 
I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into 
Egypt. Now, therefore, be not grieved, nor 
angry with yourselves that ye sold me hither; 
for God did send me before 3-011 to preserve life. 
.... But as for you, ye thought evil against 
me ; but God meant it unto good, to bring to 
pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive." 
Do we not see here the utility of evil ; and the 
good end and purpose which God designed it 
for? 

Another instance wherein our subject is most 
clearly seen, -is the adorable character and won- 
derful grace exhibited in the sufferings and death 
of the Son of God. When we approach this 
subject, we feel our inability to do it justice, and 
realize the poverty of language to express its 
divine excellency. To multiply words, or to 
attempt to be eloquent on this subject, would 
surely offend against good taste. All who admire 
the Saviour, or realize the power of his love, 
must see and acknowledge, that if Jesus had had 
11 



122 THE UTILITY OF EVIL. 

no enemies, that love could not have been exhib- 
ited as it was in the prayer, — "Father, forgive 
them, for they know not what they do." As 
well might we expect to behold the rainbow with 
all its beautiful colors, without a cloud or any 
rain, as to behold the excellency of divine grace 
if no sin had existed. Who can so well appre- 
ciate the blessing of a physician, as the patient 
whose pains and sickness have been removed? 
Who can so prize the grace of the Redeemer, as 
those who say, — "Unto him who' hath loved us, 
and washed us from our sins in his own blood?" 
It is not to be expected that w T hat we have here 
presented to the reader will be approved by all 
into whose hands it may fall. We are sensible 
that our views differ widely from the theology 
of the church, and the doctrines of the schools. 
Many, no doubt, will be surprised at the title 
which heads this short essay, and may regret to 
see anything so entirely new, and, to the public 
ear, uncouth. But let the reader consider, that 
it has been the business of the writer, during the 
many years of his ministry, to be constantly put- 
ting forth sentiments and opinions which were 



THE UTILITY OF EVIL. 123 

offensive to the established doctrines of the 
church ; but he has always been guided by an 
honest conviction, and a sense of duty. The 
sentiments set forth under the title of this article, 
have been long believed, and in many ways, and 
in many instances, exhibited to the public; but 
never before under such a title, and with a design 
to have them remain in such a form, as to invite 
special attention and investigation. 

It may further serve our purpose here to suggest 
some queries for the consideration of our doctors. 
They all agree in the opinion that God spake 
unto the fathers b}^ the prophets ; and that the 
prophets spake of a vast variety of events which 
were to take place in different ages, and in differ- 
ent countries. Tiiey believe that the rise and 
fall of kingdoms were foretold, and the desola- 
tions of wars pointed out with great exactness. 
Now, we ask these doctors, how all this could be 
unless the whole was planned by that wisdom 
which foresaw it ? Was it possible that any 
agency with which the Creator had endowed 
mankind, should work out results different from 
those spoken of by the prophets ? Take, for 



124 THE UTILITY OF EVIL. 

example, tne prophecies concerning events from 
the founding of the ancient Persian empire by 
Cyrus, to the fall of the Roman, which compre- 
hend events spoken of by Daniel. Now look at 
all the moral and physical evils which were 
embraced in, or exhibited by, the infinite multi- 
tude and variety of events, which took place 
through those ages, and say whether all those 
prophecies could have been fulfilled, and all this 
moral and physical evil have been avoided ? As 
our doctors allow that God was the author of 
those prophecies, also of their fulfilment, also of 
all the benefits which have resulted from their 
fulfilment, will they endeavor to keep themselves 
in countenance while they say he was not the 
author of the evils ? We have noticed the above 
section of time and prophecy only as an example 
of all times and prophecies. We further ask our 
doctors to consider the question, whether all those 
events above alluded to could have taken place, 
and all the evils have been avoided ? Or could 
all those evils have occurred, and the prophecies 
not fulfilled? What we desire the reader to 
understand is, that what we call good and what 



THE UTILITY OF EVIL. 125 



we call evil are so connected, and so essentially 
related, that the one cannot exist without the 
other, in the state of being in which mortal man 
exists. 

Whoever takes an enlarged, enlightened view 
of the divine economy and government, must, we 
think, be convinced, that no wisdom, short of the 
wisdom of God, can claim the authorship, strictly 
speaking, of any event whatever. Let us, for a 
moment, look at simple facts, which lie within the 
compass of the most common capacity. There 
is no plan, scheme, or enterprise, which men con- 
trive, but such as they are prompted to by cir- 
cumstances with which they find themselves 
encompassed. Then it is plain enough that they 
are not, in a strict sense, the authors of these 
plans, or enterprises. They have their origin 
further back. If, even in imagination, we en- 
deavor to trace back through events which must 
be numbered amongst the causes of these recent 
contrivances, we can never stop short of God 
himself. And the like is the case with regard to 
the inevitable consequences of those plans which 
are devised by men. Those who contrive them 
11* 



126 



THE UTILITY OF EVIL. 



can no more comprehend all which will in future 
result from what they contrive, than they can 
trace back through all events which are past, and 
which have caused them to devise what they 
have. It is often said by very pious and sincere 
persons, that we have reason to hope that Goo* 
will finally so overrule all things as to have them 
terminate for the best. But if we do not under- 
stand that he, at all times, has the control of all 
events, what reason have we to believe that he 
ever will ? 

Hoping that none may be offended at what we 
here present to the reader, and affectionately 
requesting a candid examination of the whole 
subject, we close in the very appropriate words 
of St. Paul : — " O the depths of the riches both 
of the wisdom and knowledge of God ! How 
unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways 
past finding out? For who hath known the 
mind of the Lord ? or who hath been his coun- 
sellor ? or who hath first given to him, and it 
shall be recompensed unto him again ? For of 
him, and through him, and to him are all things; 
to whom be glory forever. Amen." 



EXAMINATION 



DR. CHANNING'S DISCOURSE ON THE 
EVIL OF SIN. 



[The following Examination of Dr. Channing's Discourse 
on the Evil of Sin, was published in 1833, the year after the 
volume which contains the discourse was printed. Our read- 
ers will of course understand that the examination was before 
the public while the Doctor was living and maintaining his 
well-earned reputation as the oracle of the Christian sect, who 
justly considered him as their leader in this country. This 
circumstance is mentioned that all concerned may know that 
the Doctor had ample opportunity to have answered the argu- 
ments presented in the examination, if he had believed it 
advisable on any consideration to have done so. As this 
was never done, and as that excellent divine and scholar has 
been called away from earth, and left the discourse in a vol- 
ume which will remain, perhaps, for ages, as a specimen of 
Unitarian doctrine of the present time, the writer of the exam- 
* ination has a desire to preserve it in a volume, which may 
remain among the people with whom he is connected, after 
he shall be with them on earth no more.] 



128 



EXAMINATION OF CHANNING 



The arguments I am about to examine are 
found in the eighth discourse of a volume con- 
taining eleven discourses, printed in 1832. The 
title of the discourse is " The Evil of Sin," the 
text, Proverbs xiv. 9 — " Fools make a mock of 
sin." 

All which the learned preacher has said in the 
first section of this discourse, for the purpose of 
showing that sin is the greatest evil which men 
experience in this life, is unexceptionable. His 
method of bringing his subject to the understand- 
ing, is as successful as his own perceptions are 
clear; and if it had been the end of his design 
to dissuade people from the commission of sin, by- 
bringing into view the evils which attend it in 
the present world, where it exists, it seems that 
a better discourse could hardly have been ex- 
pected on the same momentous subject. 

But, before we get through the sermon, the 
scene changes. In room of enjoying a compan- 
ion and a fellow-laborer in the holy conflict 
which moral virtue is carrying on against vice ; 
in place of a champion in the cause of him whose 
divine commission authorizes him to "finish 



ON THE EVIL OF SIN. 129 

transgression and to make an end of sin," we are 
surprised to meet a cool, determined opposer. It 
is plainly discoverable that, when the preacher 
commenced his work, his main design was an 
effort against the doctrine, which is now so 
rapidly prevailing, which relies on the fact that 
sin is fully punished in this world, where it is 
committed, to dissuade the transgressors from 
their erroneous ways. 

When we look at the Doctor in the forepart of 
his discourse, we are pleased with arguments and 
illustrations evincing a clear understanding and a 
sound judgment; a mind, too, conversant with 
the dictates of reason, and perfectly free from the 
embarrassments of some of the obsolete dogmas 
of former times ; and are inclined to the expecta- 
tion that all is right ; that the contest is in reality 
against sin ; that he who is striving for the mas- 
tery will continue to strive lawfully, and be 
crowned. But, alas! before he is half through, 
we find him in combat with ourselves, and main- 
taining that sin makes, comparatively, a slight 
beginning in this world, and that its dominion 



130 EXAMINATION OF CHANNING 

will be far more permanent, and its mischiefs far 
greater, in the world to come. 

When I first read this discourse, and reflected 
that it was the production of a divine so much 
celebrated for his literary acquirements ; so uni- 
versally esteemed for his theological researches, 
and the purity of his writings; and one, too, 
whose labors I have prized as truly valuable and 
praised most sincerely; and when I further re- 
flected that the sentiments contained in the dis- 
course were such as the Doctor thought it his 
duty to bequeath to the religious society of which 
he has long been the pastor, I felt a sinking, a 
momentary enervation of mind, and a morbid 
gloom seemed to obscure mental vision. 

Happy is it for frail man that the disorders of 
his mind are subject to the power of truth ; that 
an hour of darkness may be succeeded by cheer- 
ing light. It was not long that discouragement 
held its control. I again read the Doctor's anni- 
ments in support of the dire torments of the 
future state, and found that, as he had fully 
refuted his own premises, and by arguments 



ON THE EVIL OF SIN. 131 

destroyed his arguments, it would be an easy 
task to present these facts to a candid public. 

If I am asked by what motive I am induced to 
show wherein the Doctor's reasoning is unsound 
and contradictory, I answer: I am soberly of 
the opinion that his arguments give to our heav- 
enly Father a character as directly contrary to 
moral goodness as any one can imagine. This 
conviction of my mind tells me that if I am able 
to contribute even one mite to the defence of the 
adorable perfections of God, it is a duty para- 
mount to all others. To this primary considera- 
tion I may add, that I firmly believe that the very 
reverse of the Doctor's argument is a truth the 
best calculated to lead transgressors from the 
paths of disobedience into the ways of righteous- 
ness and peace. 

The following quotation from the sermon 
under consideration, is from page 221. 

" I have time but for one more view of moral evil or 
sin, showing that it is truly the greatest evil. It is this. 
The miseries of disobedience to conscience and God are 
not exhausted in this life. Sin deserves, calls for, and 
will bring down future greater misery. This Christianity 



132 EXAMINATION OF CHANNING 

teaches, and this nature teaches. "Retribution is not a 
new doctrine, brought by Christ into the world. Though 
darkened and corrupted, it was spread everywhere before 
he came. It carried alarm to rude nations, which nothing 
on earth could terrify. It mixed with all the false relig- 
ions of antiquity, and it finds a response now in every 
mind not perverted by sophistry. That we shall carry 
with us into the future world our present minds, and that 
a character, formed in opposition to our highest faculties 
and to the will of God. will produce suffering in our future 
being, these are truths, in which revelation, reason, and 
conscience remarkably conspire." 

Let us look carefully at some of tnese state- 
ments. " The miseries of disobedience to con- 
science and God are not exhausted in this life. 
Sin deserves, calls for, and will bring down fu- 
ture, greater misery. This Christianity teaches, 
and this nature teaches." What are these 
statements but bare assertions ? Assertions too, 
which the Doctor knew were disbelieved by those 
whose doctrine he thought it his duty to notice, 
as the reader will perceive by the following, from 
the same page. 

" I know, indeed ; that this doctrine is sometimes ques- 



ON THE EVIL OF SIN. 133 

tioned. It is maintained by some among us, that punish- 
ment is confined to the present state ; that in changing 
worlds we shall change our characters ; that moral evil is 
to be buried with the body in the grave. As this opinion 
is spread industriously, and as it tends to diminish the 
dread of sin, it deserves some notice. To my mind, a 
more irrational doctrine was never broached." 

As the Doctor acknowledges that on account 
of the spread of the doctrine which opposes his 
statements it is worthy of notice, does it well 
become him to assume the premises in dispute, 
and in room of the least shadow r of evidence, go 
on again to assume, and assert that Christianity 
and nature both teach just what he barely 
asserts ? Does this well become the scholar, the 
Doctor of divinity ? Would he think himself 
honorably and fairly treated, if treated thus? 
What does he think of us ? He surely knows 
that we argue as we are in the habit of explain- 
ing the Christian Scriptures. Why, then, did he 
not present us with testimony from these Scrip- 
tures to prove that " the miseries of disobedience 
to conscience and to God are not exhausted in 
this life," and that " sin deserves, calls for, and 
12 



134 EXAMINATION OF CHANNING 

will bring down future, greater misery ? " Not a 
single passage of Scripture has he quoted, or even 
referred to, in support of what he ventures to as- 
sert. Here queries arise which I know not how 
to solve. 1. Does the Doctor really believe that 
the Christian Scriptures do clearly teach what he 
asserts ? We know it is uncharitable to doubt it. 
But can we reasonably believe that in such a case 
he should so far disregard the divine testimony, as 
to place his assertions in the very place where he 
could have quoted the word of truth ? If the 
Scriptures teach his assertions, he can state the 
amount of his assertions in Scripture language, 
and refer us to the passage. How happens it 
that we are told that the Christian Scriptures 
teach what cannot be expressed in their lan- 
guage ? 

Suppose we reverse this case. Would the 
Doctor allow that we treated the subject in 
debate with conclusive fairness should we assert 
that " The miseries of disobedience to conscience 
and God are exhausted in this life, and that sin 
does not deserve, and that it does not call for, 
future, greater misery ;" and then add, " This 



ON THE EVIL OF SIN. 135 

Christianity teaches, and this nature teaches?" 
According to all acknowledged rules of fair 
reasoning we have just as good a right to assume 
this, and to assert this, as he has to make his 
assertions. As the Doctor would not allow such 
assumptions any validity if made by us, so he 
cannot expect that his mere assertions are in our 
estimation of any value. 

Though we would not doubt the Doctor's can- 
dor when he describes, or endeavors to describe 
our sentiments, we very much regret that he 
should not have availed himself of the many 
opportunities and means within his convenience, 
of understanding the doctrine whose spread seems 
to give him alarm, and which he thinks it is his 
duty to disprove. He says — " It is maintained 
by some among us, that punishment is confined 
to the present state ; that in changing worlds we 
shall change our characters ; that moral evil is to 
be buried with the body in the grave." In place 
of these statements, if he had been rightly 
informed, he would have said, It is maintained 
by some among us that as neither Scripture nor 
reason show to us that sin will continue beyond 



136 



EXAMINATION OF CHANNING 



this state of flesh and blood, so neither do they 
prove that punishment for sin will so continue ; 
that when we exchange worlds, and this corrupti- 
ble puts on incorruption, our constitutions will be 
essentially changed, as is particularly described , 
by St. Paul, in his first Epistle to the Corinthi- 
ans ; and that we shall be equal unto the angels, 
and shall die no more, as Jesus testified to the 
Sadducees. 

We are sorry the Doctor should say that we 
maintain that moral evil is to be buried with our 
bodies in the grave, because he has no reason to 
believe this, and because it has too much the 
appearance of a canting throw at what he was 
not disposed to treat with his usual candor. 

Another misrepresentation of our belief is 
found on page 222. " Let me next ask, what 
fact can be adduced in proof or illustration of 
the power ascribed to death, of changing and 
purifying the mind?" Here the Doctor would 
make his hearers believe that we ascribe to the 
death of the body the power to change and to 
purify the mind. He certainly never heard any 
of us state such views ; nor has he ever read any 



ON THE EVIL OF SIN. 137 

such statement in any of our writings. We 
never ascribed the power to change us from this 
state to another, to anything but God who raised 
our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead; nor did we 
ever ascribe the power of cleansing us from sin 
to anything but that which the Scriptures mean 
by the "blood of the Lamb." 

Our writings are before the public ; if it had 
been his wish to state what we maintain, why 
should he not make use of our words ? He could 
easily have done it. We complain of this neg- 
lect ; we have occasion to complain that we are 
not treated by our opposer as he would be willing 
to be treated by us. Should he, as a minister 
of divine truth, stand up before a Christian con- 
gregation and misrepresent a doctrine which he 
would guard them against? For a few moments 
such misrepresentations may deceive, and his mis- 
guided hearers may condemn a sentiment which 
better information may lead them, at a future 
day, to embrace. Justice will certainly take place ; 
the time will certainly come when the public will 
rightly judge in this case. Yes, after our brother, 

who thus opposes us now, and he who writes in 

12* 



138 



EXAMINATION OF CHANNING 



defence of what he misrepresents, have mould- 
ered in the silent house of death, discerning eyes 
and candid hearts will judge of these things, and 
will judge correctly. 

Our clerical opposers are much in the practice 
of stating to their congregations what they are 
pleased to call our sentiments and doctrine ; but 
they are careful never to state them in the words, 
and in the way, in which we state them. On no 
consideration would they assent that we should 
stand in their pulpits, and state our views in our 
own way. But why, if they desire to state them 
themselves, why not let us state them ? Then 
there would be no mistake. Nothing is more 
evident than the fact that they do not wish to 
have their hearers understand the real grounds 
of our belief. 

But let us return to the Doctor's statements, 
in which we shall discover that his mind was not 
on the subject of sin in the future state, but on 
the continuance of the punishment of sin. " Sin 
deserves, calls for, and will bring down, future 
greater misery." He does not say that the sin 
which is committed in this life deserves, calls for, 



ON THE EVIL OF SIN. 139 

and will bring down, future greater sm; but future 
greater misery. He has no heart, no desire, as 
expressed in this place, to vindicate the continu- 
ance and augmentation of sin in the future world ; 
it is punishment, misery, which he so heartily 
maintains and so valiantly defends. In fact, it 
seems that we should do him injustice, if we 
should suppose that he means that an increase 
of sin was necessary in order to produce an in- 
crease of punishment ; for that would involve the 
glaring absurdity, that a small degree of sin de- 
serves, calls for, and therefore will attain, a greater 
degree of sin ! It seems, therefore, evident that 
he means that the sin committed in this world, 
is to be punished with greater misery in the next 
world than that which it brings to the sinner in 
this. And this conclusion is further confirmed 
by a remark found on page 219, in which he 
asserts that sin never " meets its full retribution 
on earth." On page 224, he says : " It is plainly 
implied in Scripture, that we shall suffer much 
more from sin, evil tempers, irreligion, in the 
future world, than we suffer here." Again, on 
page 229, " The Scriptures announce a state of 



140 EXAMINATION OF CHANNING 

more exact and rigorous retribution than in the 
present." Page 226, "In the state of retribution, 
he who has abused the present state will find no 
such means of escaping the wages of sin." 

If we duly consider these quotations, and con-' 
nect them as we ought, we are at once at a loss 
to know whether the Doctor understood his own 
statements. They certainly make out that every 
sin ever committed in this mortal state will be 
more severely punished in the future than it will 
have been in this ; and that every individual of 
the human family, who has ever sinned in this 
world, or whoever shall sin in this mortal state, 
will be more rigorously punished in the world to 
come than in this! Now, we honestly say, that 
we do not feel confident that the Doctor means 
this ; but it is unavoidable from his statements. 
Should he ever condescend to explain himself on 
this subject, (which we do not expect,) so as to 
show how any of our sinful race can avoid those 
awful miseries of the future world, will he at the 
same time be careful not to open a door for the 
escape of all ! 
• Having shown that the Doctor is utterly con- 



ON THE EVIL OF SIN. 141 

fused in the labyrinth of his own unsupported 
assertions, we will next proceed to show that he 
has completely overthrown the very foundation 
on which his whole scheme is founded. He 
means to be understood, to found his doctrine of 
future retribution on the moral or free agency of 
man. See on page 224. 

r - In the present world, sin does indeed bring with it 
many pains, but not full or exact retribution, and some- 
times it seems crowned with prosperity ; and the cause 
of this is obvious. The present world is a state for the 
formation of character. It is meant to be a state of trial, 
where we are to act freely, to have opportunities of wrong 
as well as right action, and to become virtuous amidst 
temptation. Now, such a purpose requires that sin, or 
wrong-doing, should not regularly and infallibly produce 
its full and immediate punishment. For, suppose, my 
hearers, that at the very instant of a bad purpose, or a 
bad deed, a sore and awful penalty were unfailingly to 
light upon you, would this be consistent with trial ? 
Would you have moral freedom ? Would you not live 
under compulsion ? Who would do wrong, if judgment 
were to come like lightning after every evil deed ? " 

Here we have the foundation of the Doctor's 
scheme of future retribution. The whole con- 



142 EXAMINATION OF CHANNING 

sists, it is true, of his assertions. He brings 
proof of nothing. We are to take his bare word 
for the whole, and we are glad that such a 
scheme of consummate deceit and wickedness 
has no better support than his assertions. He 
represents the Divine Being as contriving, by 
means of delaying punishment, to let temptations 
succeed in leading this moral agent into sin, for 
the purpose of inflicting a misery in the future 
world, to which the present is a stranger ! A 
worse character than this will never disgust the 
fine feelings of moral goodness. What should 
we think of a father, who should place his child 
in the way of a temptation which should expose 
it to plunge down a fearful and fatal precipice, 
and use every precaution to give success to the 
allurement ? Is this a specimen of free agency ? 
Is our Heavenly Father the author of such free 
agency ? Let our Doctor describe what he would 
call a system of wicked craftiness, that we may 
see the difference, if there be an}^. 

But the Doctor destroys all his pretended free- 
dom, for which he contends. He says, as before 
quoted — " Sin deserves, calls for, and will bring 



ON THE EVIL OF SrN. 



143 



down, future greater misery." Thus he makes 
out that the very punishment which would destroy 
our freedom, and place us under compulsion, will 
actually come upon us. We shall then be freed 
from our freedom ; be no longer moral agents, and 
of course, according to the whole scheme of the 
Doctor, not subjects of moral discipline. He thinks 
that if the divine ruler should suddenly, in this 
world, bring on the transgressor a full retribution 
for his evil deeds, it would destroy moral liberty at 
once, and place the creature under the law of com- 
pulsion. What great account can be justly made 
of the few moments of fleeting time before this full 
retribution will be upon us ? But who can dread 
it ? It will put an end to moral agency, to moral 
accountability, and to moral sufferings. Thus 
has he, by round assertions, without attempting 
to prove anything by Scripture testimony, set 
up a system founded on his imaginary agency, 
and fully succeeded, by the same sort of means, 
to destroy the whole ! In the coming world all 
this free agency is to be crushed in a moment. 

But is the Doctor really willing to let his 
agency be quite free in this world ? It seems 



144 



EXAMINATION OF CHANNING 



that he is endeavoring to overcome it even here. 
Why does he suppose that immediate, full pun- 
ishment would overcome our freedom, and by 
compulsion prevent our wrong-doing ? Answer ; 
because our fear would be so great that it would 
compel us to avoid the evil act. He says, page 
225, "Who would do wrong, if judgment were 
to come like lightning after every evil deed ? In. 
such a world, fear would suspend our liberty and 
supersede conscience." Well, the next world is 
just such, as he asserts, and there no one will do 
wrong, our liberty will be suspended, and our 
conscience superseded. And he is even now 
endeavoring to frighten us with his horrid picture 
of future misery, on purpose that our dread may 
prevent our committing sin. Will he attempt to 
show, that if he succeeds in his endeavor to 
excite our fear to such a degree as to prevent our 
wrong-doing, he will not thereby suspend our lib- 
erty and supersede our conscience ? Why should 
the fear of immediate retribution any more sus- 
pend our liberty and supersede our conscience, 
than the fear of a future retribution, provided that 
both so operate as to prevent our doing wrong ? 



ON THE EVIL OF SIN. 145 

If the Doctor will maintain any claim to moral 
philosophy, let him answer this query. 

Another instance in which the Doctor has suc- 
ceeded in an entire refutation of his notion of 
man's agency and freedom, we find in the 
following, on pages 221, 222. In reference to 
the doctrine which he thinks it his duty to 
oppose, he says : 

" To my mind a more irrational doctrine was never 
broached. In the first place, it contradicts all our experi- 
ence of the nature and laws of the mind. There is noth- 
ing more striking in the mind than the connection of its 
successive states. Our present knowledge, thoughts, 
feelings, characters, are the results of former impressions, 
passions and pursuits. We are this moment what the 
past has made us ; and to suppose that, at death, the 
influences of our whole past course are to cease on our 
minds, and that a character is to spring up altogether at 
war with what has preceded it, is to suppose the most 
important law or principle of the mind to be violated, is 
to destroy all analogy between the present and future, 
and to substitute for experience the wildest dreams of 
fancy." 

Wherein does the Doctor suppose that the force 
of the above argument consists ? Answer ; as 
13 



146 



EXAMINATION OF CHANNING 



we are this moment what the past has made us, 
we must, the next moment, be what the present 
will make us. Where, then, is the moment to be 
found in which we exercise a free agency ? Never 
was free agency more fully disproved, if we allow 
the correctness of his reasoning. But he has as« 
fully refuted his own statements of the analogy 
between this and the future state, as he has free 
agency. He has labored with his usual ingenuity, 
beginning on page 224, to set forth the astonish- 
ing difference between this state and the next. 
Just as if he had altogether forgotten his scheme 
of analogy, it now seems to be his endeavor to 
make the two states extremely different. He 
says, " I ask you to pause and weigh this dis- 
tinction between the present and the future." 
The reason why he wishes to make this vast 
difference between the present state and the 
future, is that he may hereafter deprive us of 
every possible enjoyment which the present af- 
fords. And the reason why he wishes to main- 
tain his analogy between the two states, is for 
the purpose of carrying sin into the future. A 
picture more appalling, more withering to virtu- 



"1 



ON THE EVIL OF SIN. 14' 



ous hope, and blasting to the aspirations of mercy 
and compassion, was never drawn. Angels of 
mercy, deliver us from a fiend that would blot out 
the sun, the moon and the stars, and destroy 
every beauty, and all the loveliness of creation, 
but preserve sin with maternal fondness I Had 
the Doctor's eye but caught a glimpse of this 
haggard form, his affectionate heart, his benevo- 
lent soul, would have frozen. 

Is this the divine who has justly accused cruel 
Orthodoxy of depriving our Creator of his fatherly 
character, and of making him an unmerciful 
tyrant ? Is this the preacher who, in sermons 
delivered in southern cities, has maintained the 
universal and impartial goodness of our Father in 
heaven, with a success that is completely triumph- 
ant ? Why, then, does he, in his own city, and to 
his own beloved, congregation, represent the su- 
preme, the merciful, the good ruler of the universe, 
as capable of devising and executing a scheme to 
preserve sin and perpetuate evil, and to render 
them unmixed with all the good with which they 
are here connected ? 



148 



EXAMINATION OF CHUNKING 



It is not a little surprising that the Doctor 
should not have discovered the manifest defect 
of his reasoning, when he endeavors to show 
that in this world vice, in room of being fully 
punished, is often attended with pleasures. On 
page 225, he says : 

" Accordingly sin, though, as we have seen, it produces 
great misery, is still left to compass many of its objects, 
often to prosper, often to be gain. Vice, bad as it is, has 
often many pleasures in its train. The worst men par- 
take, equally with the good, the light of the sun, the rain, 
the harvest, the accommodations and improvements of 
civilized life, and sometimes accumulate more largely 
outward goods. And thus sin has its pleasures, and es- 
capes many of its natural and proper fruits. We live in 
a world where, if we please, we may forget ourselves, 
may delude ourselves, may intoxicate our minds with 
false hopes, and may find for a time a deceitful joy in an 
evil course. In this respect the future will differ from 
the present world." 

If we carefully inquire for the specific objects 
which the Doctor had in view while penning the 
foregoing, we shall discover the two following : 
First, to show that in the divine economy the 
full retribution of sin is held in reserve, and sue- 



1 



ON THE EVIL OF SIN. 149 



cess granted to vice for the purpose of giving an 
opportunity for the free agent to practise wrong- 
doing, which he would not if he expected imme- 
diate retribution. And, second, to show the wide 
difference between this and the coming state. 
According to his statements, it is evident that he 
believes that, in order for man to practise sin, it 
is necessary that its punishment should be de- 
layed and out of sight, and that vice should 
give, at least, some assurance of success. How, 
then, is it possible for him to maintain the exist- 
ence of sin in a state where it can offer no temp- 
tation by promised success, and where, should a 
vestige of it be found, a full retribution would 
effectually suspend our liberty and supersede our 
conscience ? If the future state is so entirely 
different from this, that we shall there be alto- 
gether without our moral agency, and free from 
the least temptation to do wrong, how is sin to 
exist ? 

The reason which the Doctor assigns why he 
notices the doctrine which teaches that the ade- 
quate retributions of sin are suffered in this 
13* 



150 EXAMINATION OF CHANNING 

world, he states on page 221, as follows: "As 
this opinion is spread industriously, and as it 
tends to diminish the dread of sin, it deserves 
some notice." Thus we find him in one breath 
contending that if punishment was expected im- 
mediately, no one would commit any sin ; and in 
the next, he is equally confident that the doctrine 
which supposes the punishment of sin is imme- 
diate, and in the very state in which it is com- 
mitted, " diminishes the dread of sin." Such 
palpable contradictions from a divine justly cele- 
brated for some of those best writings which 
honor the present age, are next to unaccountable. 
They form an admonishing specimen of the 
power of an allowed, a settled, and cultivated 
bigotry. 

For the purpose of maintaining the opinion 
that vice will continue after natural death, the 
Doctor queries as follows, on page 223 : 

" Lop off the criminal's hands ; does the disposition to 
do mischief vanish with them ? When the feet mortify, 
do we see a corresponding mortification of the will to go 
astray? The loss of sight or hearing is a partial death ; 
but is a single vice plucked from the mind, or one of its 



ON THE EVIL OF SIN. 



151 



strong passions palsied, by the destruction of its chief cor- 
poreal instruments ? " 

If we allow these queries the force which the 
Doctor gives them, we must believe that all the 
strong passions which here evidently arise from 
our fleshly constitutions will continue when flesh 
and blood are no more. But will he abide this 
conclusion ? will he contend that all the most 
faithful, the most exemplary Christians, who 
have, with much good success, conflicted with 
those lusts which have too often triumphed over 
others of our frail race, will be obliged to meet 
and contend with the same lusts, and strong pas- 
sions, in the future world? Then what assur- 
ance have we that those who have here main- 
tained a good conflict may not hereafter yield to 
foes which will triumph over the dissolution of 
flesh and blood, and attack them hereafter, with 
all the vigor they ever have possessed ? It is not 
so rare an instance of human weakness as we 
could wish it was, that those, w T ho for many 
years have been esteemed for sobriety and their 
many virtues, have fallen unhappy victims to 
some lust or passion which triumphed over their 



152 EXAMINATION OF CHANNING 

fortitude ; and served as an admonition to those 
who think they stand, to take heed lest they fall. 
If such instances are lamented in this world, 
have we not reason to fear they will be deplored 
in the next, if the Doctor's argument be allowed ? 
And how do we know that St. Paul has not been 
for ages a miserable slave to that law in his 
members which he said warred against the law 
of his mind? Rom. vii. 23. 

Part of what has been quoted from page 222, 
in which the Doctor disallows so great a change 
at death as he ascribes to the doctrine he opposes, 
may be examined in connection with the change 
of character which was effected in Paul at his 
conversion to Christianity. Surely it does not 
become the moral philosopher, who is a minister 
of the divine word of reconciliation, to contend 
that at death, or at any other time, it is not con- 
sistent with the wisdom of God and the laws of 
the human mind, to effect as great a change as 
we are informed in Scripture has been effected 
for the holy purposes for which St. Paul was con- 
verted. When Paul was on his way to Damas- 
cus, exceedingly mad and breathing out threaten- 



ON THE EVIL OF SIN. 



153 



ings against the defenceless disciples of Jesus, 
he was, that moment, just what the past had 
made him. But how suddenly were his views, 
his feelings, and his desires, as totally changed as 
it would be necessary to change any sinner to a 
saint ! Will the Doctor allow that any violence 
was done to St. Paul's free agency ? If not, then 
so great a change may be effected as suddenly in 
any other man, without destroying his free 
agency. 

If he takes the other ground, and says that this 
was a miracle, in which the laws of the human 
mind were suspended, then he furnishes data to 
allow that such a miracle may be performed at 
death, or at any other time. Suppose, reader, 
that it had so happened that some one poor, mis- 
erable, degraded sinner had, as it were, by mere 
accident, dropped into the Doctor's meeting, and 
heard the sermon now under examination ; and 
suppose it had the very effect on his mind which 
the preacher would most heartily desire, would 
this man not have gone away with views, desires, 
and feelings, as different from those which his 
mind possessed when he entered the house, as 



154 EXAMINATION OF CHANNING 

we can easily imagine ? Why then is there such 
an alarm taken at the suggestion that possibly no 
sin will exist in the future state ? Those who 
seem distressed with apprehensions at this sug- 
gestion, would put a stop to all sin this very day,, 
if it were in their power. Let us inquire how 
our good, pious Christians would conduct them- 
selves, if they were persuaded to believe, that, 
after the expiration of twelve months, there- 
would not be, in this world, nor in the universe, a 
single soul who should possess one sinful thought 
or desire, and that all moral beings would be as 
holy as the angels of God ? Would they lament 
that all restraint was removed, and nothing re- 
mained to prevent indulgence in sin ? Would 
they say, we must now improve our time in the 
pleasures of hating God and one another; for we 
must soon be deprived of this privilege, and be 
obliged to love our Father in heaven, and each 
other, forever? 

As it respects the subject of a religious or 
moral change, and the necessary time which is 
required in which to effect it, it seems reasonable 
that we should not limit the power of the divine 



ON THE EVIL OF SIN. 



155 



spirit. There are, in Scripture, two extreme 
characters set forth. The self-righteous Pharisee, 
who has undoubting confidence in his high moral 
attainments, and looks down on others with what 
he thinks is a holy scorn, and thanks God that 
he is not as other men ; and the irreligious, im- 
pious and profane, who heeds not the command- 
ments of either God or man, and indulges his 
fleshly appetites without restraint. Now, as it 
respects the time necessary to be occupied by the 
power of that spirit by which the change must 
be made, in order to complete the work, it cer- 
tainly does not become us to set any limits. 
With God all things are possible. Jesus could, 
in the same given time, cast seven devils out of 
Mary, and bring Saul, the Pharisee, to say, 
"Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ?" When 
we hear the professed disciples of him who was 
meek and lowly in spirit, dwell with much com- 
placency on the vast advantages which such as 
have here acajiired what they call high moral 
attainments will enjoy hereafter, over their fellow- 
creatures who fall short of those immense 
heights, it calls to our recollection the estimation 



156 



EXAMINATION OF CHANNING 



in which the Pharisees of our Saviour's time held 
themselves, and the habitual scorn and contempt 
which they manifested towards others, whom 
they called sinners. They certainly manifest 
the same spirit, and as great darkness of under- 
standing, as did those of old who said, " Have 
any of the rulers, or the Pharisees, believed on 
him ? But this people, who knovveth not the 
law, are cursed." To such Jesus said, " The 
publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of 
God before you." Nothing can be more incon- 
sistent with the sentiments and feelings of that 
grateful heart, which enjoys the forgiveness of 
sin, than this breathing out of divine retributions, 
of unmerciful punishments on sinners. 

The Doctor thinks it irrational to suppose that 
death can effect so great a change in man as to 
discontinue sin or wrong-doing. But does he 
not rely on death to effect as great a change in 
those whom he would call religious people ? 
Why does he labor to dissuade people from the 
commission of sin ? Is it not for the love he 
feels for them ? Is it not that he may, if possible, 
be the means of preventing their suffering such 



ON THE EVIL OF SIN. 157 

severe and rigorous retributions, in the world to 
come, as he has so eloquently described ? And 
in all this is he not a true and fair representative 
of all those divines who are engaged in the same 
holy work ? And to this company of lovers of 
sinners may we not add the whole vast commu- 
nity of the faithful on earth ? Are they not, all 
their life long, in possession of the spirit of our 
high priest, who has compassion on the ignorant, 
and on such as are out of the way ? And as 
these disciples of him, who gave himself a ransom 
for all men, who loved us and washed us from 
our sins in his own blood, draw near the close of 
their earthly pilgrimage, does not their ardor in- 
crease, their pity for sinners deepen, and their 
love of souls grow stronger ? Now, as all these 
questions must be answered in the affirmative, I 
ask the Doctor if death must not so change this 
innumerable company of saints as to deliver 
them forever from this spirit of Jesus, and from 
its holy desires ? If they, after death, retain this 
spirit, if in the future world they are exercised 
with this love and pity, what must be their condi- 
tion ? Happy ? No : for what they here fear 
14 



153 EXAMINATION OF CKANNING 

and dread with horror will then be realized. 
Parents will see their children separated from 
God and themselves, enduring the dire retri- 
butions from which they so anxiously prayed for 
their deliverance while in this life. Circum- 
stanced thus, should they have for these wretch- 
ed sufferers the holy love, and gracious pity, 
without which, in this world, they would not be 
real Christians, they must be inconceivably 
wretched ! But if the death of saints will effect 
a change in them so great as to render them 
entirely destitute of care or concern for those 
whom they loved and pitied in this life, it will 
effect a greater change than the discontinuance 
of sin ; because that charity, which here covers a 
multitude of sins, is greater than sin. 

I have no disposition to insinuate that the Doc- 
tor believes that all the graces which beautify 
and adorn, and give a character to the saints on 
earth, will be buried in the grave ; for though it 
seems to be consistent with his reasoning, it looks 
too much like treating him as he has treated us. 

If our opposers are determined to support the 
doctrine of a future state of sin and misery, by 



1 



ON THE EVIL OF SIN. 159 

what they call analogy between the present state 
and the future, let them be consistent; and then 
they will increase the love and pity of the saints 
hereafter in the same ratio as they increase the 
sin and misery of the wicked. 

For one, I do not pretend to know what w T ill be 
the state of all mankind, nor even of any one, 
after death, further than Scripture testimony 
shows. But I am willing to say that I do not 
believe that the Christian Scriptures anywhere 
teach that men will sin out of this state of flesh I 

and blood ; nor do I believe that it is necessary, 
to awaken in me or anybody else a love to our 
Creator and to our fellow-creatures, that we be- 
lieve that some of the human family will sin in 
the future world. 

On pages 226, 227, after speaking of the many 

means to which sinners can resort, in this world, 

to alleviate the pains of sin, the Doctor says : 

j 

"In the state of retribution, he who has abused the 

present state will find no such means of escaping the 

wages of sin. The precise mode in which such a man is 

to exist hereafter I know not. But I know that it will 

offer nothing to amuse him, to dissipate thought, to turn 



160 EXAMINATION OF CHANNING 

| 

him away from himself; nothing to which he can fly for 
refuge from the inward penalties of transgression." 

All this he says he knows. Would he be wil- 
ling- to take his oath of it ? It is seriously 
doubted. How does he know that hereafter the 
man who has abused the present state may not 
meet with Him, who once in the temple said to 
the accusers of an unhappy sinner, "Let him. 
that is without sin cast the first stone," and who 
said to the sinner, " Neither do I condemn thee ; 
go and sin no more ? " Is there no analogy be- 
tween this state and the future ? 

When we lay aside our sectarian prejudices, 
and look within ourselves ; when we take an 
impartial survey of those frailties which are 
common to us all, in place of dooming others to 
hopeless misery, we feel more like saying, " God 
be merciful to us sinners ! " 

The Doctor presumes to inform us how the 
wicked will furnish themselves with bodies here- 
after, suited to the designs of unspeakable tor- 
ments. He says, on page 227 : 

"Now in the present state we rind that the mind has 
an immense power over the body, and, when diseased, 



ON THE EVIL OF SIN. 161 

often communicates diseases to its sympathizing compan- 
ion. I believe, that in the future state the mind will 
have this power of conforming its outward frame to itself, 
incomparably more than here. "We must never forget, 
that, in that world, mind or character is to exert an all- 
powerful sway ; and accordingly, it is rational to believe 
that the corrupt and deformed mind, which wants moral 
goodness or a spirit of concord with God and with the 
universe, will create for itself, as its fit dwelling, a de- 
formed body, which will also want concord or harmony 
with all things around it." 

Let the reader carefully examine the above 
quotation, and ask the question, does the author 
attempt to prove anything he says ? Then let 
him recollect that, on page 222, the Doctor 
accuses those whose views he opposes " of sub- 
stituting for experience the wildest dreams of 
fancy." If wilder dreams of fancy ever entered 
the human imagination than he has set forth, we 
say they have never come to our knowledge. 

Just above what we last quoted from page 227, 
the Doctor says : "The Scriptures strongly imply, 
if not positively teach, that in the future life we 
shall exist in connection with some material 
frame ; and afterwards, as we have seen, sup- 
14* 



162 EXAMINATION OF CHANNING 

poses that the mind creates this body for itself! 
Do we not now exist in connection with a mate- 
rial frame ? Surely. Did our minds create this 
frame ? No. Did our minds ever exist out of 
this frame ? Not that we know of. If we exist 
hereafter, will our minds be conscious before we 
have the corporeal frame of which the Doctor 
speaks ? If not, what will our minds do towards 
creating that frame, more than they did to create 
our present bodies ? But if our minds first exist 
and exercise consciousness, before we have our 
bodies, then bodies are not necessary to that 
hereafter state, as we can exist without them. 
They may be mere conveniencies with which 
we may accommodate ourselves, if we please ! 

How are we to account for this kind of treat- 
ment of the momentous subject of a future exist- 
ence, by one who professes to be a disciple of 
Jesus ? Did the divine teacher authorize him, or 
any one else, to hold up such vague notions ! 
Why should we not be contented to believe 
nothing concerning our future existence, except 
what can be expressed in the language of inspira- 
tion ? By neglecting that, and giving ourselves 



ON THE EVIL OF SIN. 163 

up to our own wisdom, do we not manifest too 
much disregard of a favor we affect to prize ? 
Have not the injurious and even disgraceful 
divisions in the Christian church grown out of 
this unwarrantable practice ? 

Surely, Jesus gave a very different account of 
our future existence from what the Doctor sets 
forth. He said, " For in the resurrection they 
neither marry nor are given in marriage ; but are 
as the angels of God in heaven." St. Paul says, 
" As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all 
be made alive." Does the apostle teach us, as 
does the Doctor, that we are to form our own 
bodies in the resurrection state ? He says, " God 
giveth it a body as it hath pleased him. . . . 
It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorrup- 
tion ; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; 
it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 
it is sown a natural body, it is raised a 
spiritual body." Again the apostle says : " We 
know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle 
were dissolved, we have a building of God, an 
house not made with hands, eternal in the 
heavens." 



164 



EXAMINATION OF CHANNING 



The Scriptures abound with instances of severe 
retributions for the sins of individuals as well as 
of whole communities ; but in none of the ac- 
counts which are recorded do we find the least 
intimation that any part was reserved for a future 
state. And it is evident, even if such terrible 
sufferings do in fact await us hereafter, that it 
has been wisely kept from our knowledge. God 
has not seen fit to reveal it. 

I have not the least desire to impugn the 
motives which induced the Doctor to endeavor to 
awaken the fears of his congregation, and to 
plant in their very souls the most horrible appre- 
hensions of unmerciful sufferings hereafter, if 
such was his purpose. I can easily conceive 
how he could mean it for their good. But 1 
soberly believe that the less that very respectable 
congregation entertains of such fearful apprehen- 
sions, the better it is for them, and for their 
morals. And nothing can be better supported by 
Scripture and experience, than that such fear is 
directly hostile to that love which is begotten in 
the heart by the manifestation of the divine good- 
ness, and which casts out fear, which hath tor- 



ON THE EVIL OF SIN. 165 



merit. Can the Doctor endure his own senti- 
ments ? We will try him. Suppose, then, that 
some one of his church has a wayward son, who 
has contracted the worst of habits, and is conflrm- 
edly vicious. Violent sickness prostrates the 
youth, and father, mother, brothers and sisters, 
stand around his dying bed, and call on the Doc- 
tor for prayers. Would he stand there and say, 
as on page 226, "In the state of retribution, he 
who has abused the present state will find no 
means of escaping the wages of sin?" No; 
his heart is too tender; there is too much com- 
passion in his soul to do this. What would he 
do ? He would present to the dying youth that 
hope which entereth within the vale, and that 
boundless love and mercy by which the most foul 
stains of sin are cleansed. And this he would do 
in such soothing language, and with such a 
spirit of grace, as would penetrate the faltering 
heart of the dying with the energies of a spiritual 
life. It is a subject of felicitation that the opin- 
ions of divines, respecting the miseries of the 
future state, are merely speculative ; and that 
they never bring them near themselves, nor apply 



J 



166 



EXAMINATION OF CHANNING 



them to their friends. Such doctrines are for 
the wicked, who are somewhere, no one knows 
where ! 

But it is time to inquire after the design or 
purpose for which the Doctor believes the mis- 
eries of the state of retribution are to be inflicted. 
Has he told us what benefit is finally to result 
from such dire sufferings ? He has not. He 
says on pages 229, 230 : 

"I have spoken of the pains and penalties of moral 
evil, or of wrong doing, in the world to come. How long 
they will endure, I know not. Whether they will issue 
in the reformation and happiness of the sufferer, or will 
terminate in the extinction of his conscious being, is a 
question on which Scripture throws no clear light." 

Here, then, after all this solemn parade about 
future retribution, he is not certain, in his own 
mind, whether it will do any good or not ! 
He certainly does not want it for any good that 
he thinks will be effected by it. Reader, what 
does the Doctor want this awful future punish- 
ment for? He has assigned no reason at all why 
he wants it ; but we know what he wants it for. 
Reader, you were casting in your mind that the 



ON THE EVIL OF SIN. 167 

Doctor wants future punishment to frighten his 
congregation with; to make them love God and 
one another; to make them love holiness, and 
practise Christian virtues. Can you believe that 
he wants it for such purposes ? Can fear drive 
us to love God and virtue ? That mind that can 
believe it must be in gross darkness. But surely, 
you will say, the Doctor certainly intended to fill 
his hearers with the most fearful apprehensions. 
By no means. If the Doctor had frightened one 
of his hearers, and that frightened hearer had 
gone to him in trouble about the matter, he 
would, with all the powers of his mind, have 
exerted himself to remove such distress. What, 
then, you ask, does he want this future punish- 
ment for ? He wants it for the purpose of oppos- 
ing those who do not believe it. He did not 
preach this sermon with a view to convince 
those against, whose sentiments he directed his 
arguments. They are Universalists ; and he 
knows that Universalists, if convinced at all, 
must be convinced, not by assertions without 
proof, but by arguments directly drawn from the 
holy Scriptures. If it had been his design to 



1 



168 EXAMINATION OF CHANNING 

convince us, he would have been careful to state 
our views in our words ; and then he would have 
endeavored to show us that the very Bible to 
which we go to prove our doctrine, does in fact 
disprove it. But, in room of anything like this, 
he has proceeded as unlike it as possible. He 
knew that his hearers had always been in the 
habit of hearing his assertions, and he had no 
doubt but they would believe them as usual. 
There was no need of any Scripture proof, and 
therefore none was brought. 

Some of the reasons which have induced me 
to disprove the arguments, in the sermon under 
examination, were mentioned in the commence- 
ment, and it may not be amiss to add a few sug- 
gestions more on that subject in concluding. I 
have been long convinced of the fact, that the 
doctrine of an unmerciful retribution in the 
world to come, for sins committed in this mortal 
state, gives to our Creator the very worst charac- 
ter that the human mind can conceive. It is 
atheism, gross atheism, to pretend that such a 
state of suffering can exist, without allowing that 
its existence was originally embraced in the vast 



ON THE EVIL OF SIN. 



169 



scheme of the divine purposes. I furthermore 
feel confident that the maintenance of such a 
sentiment, in human society, is calculated to 
harden the hearts of men, and of women, and of 
children ; and thereby to embitter their affections 
towards each other, to fill them with disgust 
against God and hatred to their fellow-creatures. 
In support of this view I will refer to a fact gen- 
erally known, and which the Doctor has justly 
mentioned on page 221, as follows : Speaking 
of this future retribution, he says, "Retribution 
is not a new doctrine, brought by Christ into the 
world. Though darkened and corrupted, it was 
spread everywhere before he came. It carried 
alarm to rude nations, which nothing on earth 
could terrify. It mixed with all the false relig- 
ions of antiquity." This testimony is true ; and 
if its not being brought into the world by Jesus 
Christ, and its having been mixed with all the 
false religions of antiquity, recommend it to the 
Doctor, all I will say is, that I am glad it has no 
better recommendation. He might have added, 
that this awful doctrine has always been one of 
the main pillars of Popery, and the sole cause of 
15 



170 EXAMINATION OF CHANNING 

all the persecutions which have swept many mil- 
lions of innocent beings from the earth, and fixed 
a stigma on the Christian church that will never 
be defaced until the doctrine is exploded. I call 
on the Doctor to trace bloody persecution to any 
other cause or source than that of unmerciful 
retribution. If John Calvin had not believed in 
the doctrine of future retribution, would he have 
procured the burning of Servetus ? If the Church 
of Rome had not believed it. would it have put 
millions to death for heresy ? If our early set- 
tlers of New England had not believed it, would 
they have hung peaceful Quakers ? No ; none 
of these persecutions would ever have disgraced 
human nature if it had not been for this unmer- 
ciful doctrine, which is perfectly calculated to 
harden the human heart, and to fill it with the 
same kind of wrath which it always supposes 
exists in God. I have no doubt of the truth of 
the Doctor's testimony. It is unquestionably 
true that the Scribes and Pharisees, who pro- 
cured the death of the Son of God, were sound 
believers in this doctrine. I have no reason to 
doubt that the whole estate of the priests and 



ON THE EVIL OF SIN. 171 

elders, who were the murderers of Jesus, believed 
this doctrine. For had they been persuaded that 
life and immortality are an inheritance which 
our Creator has in store for all men, they cer- 
tainly would not have put to death the Lord of 
Glory. 

Lastly; I have a strong desire to do all I can 
to fix the attention of my fellow-men, and espec- 
ially the youth, on the fact, that vice, of every 
sort and kind, is hateful in its nature ; that it 
always brings a full and an exact retribution 
with it; and that it ought, therefore, to be cau- 
tiously shunned. This view of the case, I feel 
confident, is the best possible safeguard against 
unlawful indulgences. Would people try any 
harder to avoid the cholera, if they believed that 
it brought many present enjoyments, but that, if 
we should happen to die with it, we should be 
sent away into some gloomy place hereafter, 
where we should be employed in making for our- 
selves ugly and deformed bodies ? 

Among other reasons for endeavoring to dis- 
prove the doctrine of unmerciful punishment, I 
assign the gloomy infelicity, and painful anxieties 



172 EXAMINATION OF CHANNING 

of many, especially among the lovely daughters 
of our race, which owe their corrosive gnawings 
to this doctrine. It is not very rare that we find 
the most amiable minds, the softest hearts, the 
loveliest tempers, the kindest dispositions, all with- 
ering beneath this deadly poison. Many are the 
families which are this moment deploring the 
loss to their society of those with whom they 
have trodden the flowers of a few happy springs, 
and have plucked the roses of a few joyful sum- 
mers, but who are now gone to the dwellings of 
maniacs, or to the more enviable house of the 
dead. If I could be the means of preventing a 
single case of this kind, it would be a very rich 
reward for the labor it might cost, and a tenfold 
compensation for all the reproaches which I am 
sure of receiving therefor. 

To conclude : if I have, in this examination, 
exposed the errors and contradictions with which 
I have met, in any way to the prejudice of their 
author, I humbly ask forgiveness ; for I do cer- 
tainly entertain sentiments of unfeigned respect 
for the author of the sermon I have examined. 
And if I have penned a sentiment which is not 



"1 



ON THE EVIL OF SIN. 



according to godliness, I pray to be enlightened, 
so that I may correct the error: and that it may 
be discerned and rejected by every reader. 



While writing the foregoing examination, sev- 
eral particulars, which to me appeared unsound, 
in the Doctor's theory, were, for the sake of 
being brief, passed without notice ; some of which 
will be here called in question. By connecting 
several passages in the sermon, which seem to 
indicate an independence of the mind of man on 
the body — and as being distinct from its power or 
influence — and as being capable of existing with- 
out it, we have a subject of discussion, which 
requires something more convincing than mere 
assertions to justify a final decision. 

Page 222, the Doctor says : 

" What is death ? It is the dissolution of certain limbs 
and organs by which the soul now acts. But these, how- 
ever closely connected with the mind, are entirely distinct 
from its powers, from thought and will, from conscience 
and affection. Why should the last grow pure from the 
dissolution of the first ? Why shall the mind put on a 

15* 



174 EXAMINATION OF CHANNING 

new character, by laying aside the gross instruments 
through which it now operates?" 

Page 223 : 

" Lop off' the criminal's hands • does the disposition to 
do mischief vanish with them? When the feet mortify, 
do we see a corresponding mortification of the will to go 
astray? The loss of sight or hearing is a partial death; 
but is a single vice plucked from the mind, or one of its 
strong passions palsied, by the destruction of its chief cor- 
poreal instruments ? " 

Page 227 : 

"It can hardly be thought, that in a creation which is 
marked by gradual change and progress, we should make 
at once the mighty transition from our present state into 

a purely spiritual or unembodied existence 

And, accordingly, it is rational to believe that the corrupt 
and deformed mind, which wants moral goodness, or a 
spirit of concord with God and with the universe, will 
create for itself, as its fit dwelling, a deformed body, 
which will also want concord or harmony with all 
things around it." 

Judging of the Doctor's theory from the bear- 
ings of the foregoing quotations from his sermon, 
and from the evident design of the preacher, as 
manifested by the connection in which these pas- 



ON THE EVIL OF SIN. 175 

sages are found, we are led to suppose that he 
believes that all moral evil, all vice or wrong- 
doing, in which men have ever employed their 
mental or physical powers, originated, not from a 
body composed of flesh and blood, but in a mind 
which is distinct from the body, and which uses 
the several parts and members of the body as 
mere instruments convenient for accomplishing 
its own evil purposes. Also, that this mind of 
man, being thus distinct from the body and its 
organization, does exist with all its powers and 
passions, when the body is dead, in an unem- 
bodied state, where it creates for itself, " as its fit 
dwelling, a deformed body," &c. 

In the first place, there is no little reason to 
doubt the correctness of the opinion, that all 
moral evil originates in the mind, and not from 
elementary power. What desire ever influenced 
the will to an evil act, that did not originate from 
some passion or appetite of the body ? If I have 
not entirely failed in my researches into the 
truth concerning this subject, there is no propen- 
sity in man to evil deeds, that does not owe its 
origin to fleshly lusts. James says, "Everyman 



176 EXAMINATION OF CIIANNING 

is tempted when he is drawn away with his own 
lusts, and enticed. Then, when lust hath con- 
ceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is 
finished, bringeth forth death." Chap. i. 14, 15. 
Paul says, " But if ye bite and devour one 
another, take heed that ye be not consumed one 
of another. This I say then, walk in the spirit, 
and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For 
the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit 
against the flesh ; and these are contrary the one 
to the other ; so that ye cannot do the things that 
ye would." Gal. v. 15 — 17. Again, Rom. vii. 
23 : " But I see another law in my members 
warring against the law of my mind, and bring- 
ing me into captivity unto the law of sin which 
is in my members." These divine declarations, 
which are evidently corroborated by every man's 
experience, should weigh more as evidence in the 
case now under consideration than the Doctor's 
assertions to the contrary. 

The reader will readily perceive why the Doc- 
tor is unwilling to allow that sin is the natural 
fruit of the flesh. If he allowed this, he would 
at once see, that when flesh and blood are dis- 



ON THE EVIL OF SIN. 177 

solved in dust, its fruit can no longer be pro- 
duced. 

Secondly: respecting the Doctor's notion (for I 
can give it no higher title) that the mind of man, 
after the death of the body, exists as mind, and 
then creates for itself a body, I would call on 
him to show, from the testimony of the Scrip- 
tures, that he has any authority for it. St. Paul 
says, " We know that if our earthly house of this 
tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of 
God, an house not made with hands, eternal in 
the heavens." 2 Cor. v. 1. Will the Doctor 
condescend to show that his opinion is more cor- 
rect than the one expressed by the apostle ? I 
know of no passage in the Scriptures, which, 
taken in its true meaning, teaches us to believe 
that man has any sentient existence between this 
state of flesh and blood, and that state which is 
promised in the resurrection. In his vindication 
of the doctrine of the resurrection, St. Paul says, 
as has before been quoted, " It is sown in corrup- 
tion, it is raised in incorruption ; it is sown in 
dishonor, it is raised in glory ; it is sown in 
weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a 



178 EXAMINATION OF CHANNING. 

natural body, it is raised a spiritual body." 1 Cor. 
xv. 42 — 44. But be it remembered that the 
apostle never hinted that this change was effected- 
by the death of the body ; but says, " For our con- 
versation is in heaven ; from whence also we 
look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; who 
shall change our vile body, that it may be fash- 
ioned like unto his glorious body, according to 
the working whereby he is able even to subdue 
all tliiners unto himself." Phil. iii. 20. 21. 



SALVATION IRRESPECTIVE 
OF CHARACTER. 



There is, at this time, no objection to the doc- 
trine of Universal Salvation more pertinaciously- 
insisted on by its opposers, than that the doctrine 
teaches that all men are to be saved irrespective 
of moral character, and in violation of the free- 
dom of man's will. The objection supposes that 
Universalists believe and teach that God has 
decreed the happiness of all men, and that he will 
make them thus happy and forever blessed, be 
their moral characters what they may; holy or 
unholy ; clean or unclean ; righteous or wicked. 
The amount of the objection is, that the doctrine 
contends that as God will have all men to be 
saved, he will save them whether they will or 
not ; whether they repent of their sins or not ; 
whether they reform or remain sinful. 

If we ask any opposer of Universalism whether 



180 SALVATION IRRESPECTIVE OF CHARACTER. 

he ever heard a Universalist state his doctrine as 
here described, or ever read such a representation 
of the doctrine in any writer who wrote in de- 
fence of the doctrine, he will answer in the nega- 
tive ; but at the same time will say, that the 
doctrine implies all this, and must thus be sup- 
ported, or not supported at all. Now, if we do, 
as we always wish to do, exercise charity, and 
allow that our opposers are honest in alleging 
such an objection to Universalism, we must 
offend them by believing and saying that their 
objection, in room of disproving the truth of Uni- 
versal salvation, proves, beyond all controversy, 
that they are utterly ignorant of the nature of 
salvation, and know nothing concerning the pro- 
cess by which it is effected. 

The old doctrine of the church, ever since the 
corruptions of Christianity, has taught that sal- 
vation means a salvation from hell in a future 
state, or from the wrath of God, which means the 
same; or from the punishment of sin, which also 
means the same. But concerning such a salva- 
tion the Scriptures nowhere speak ; and in such 
a salvation no well-informed Universalist believes. 



SALVATION IRRESPECTIVE OF CHARACTER. 181 

The Universalist believes in a salvation which he 
finds set forth in the Scriptures of divine author- 
ity. This is a salvation from sin. " Thou 
shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his 
people from their sins." Thus said the angel to 
Joseph. Now suppose Joseph had asked the 
angel, whether Jesus would save his people from 
their sins irrespective of their moral characters ? 
whether he would save them from their sins even 
if they continued to live in sin? Would not 
Joseph in this have shown, that either he did not 
understand the nature of salvation, or that there 
was insincerity in his question ? Jesus said, " I 
came not to call the righteous, but sinners, to 
repentance." What sense would there have 
been in the question, if any one had asked him if 
he came to call sinners to repentance irrespective 
of moral character? Jesus said that he was the 
" bread of God which came down from heaven to 
give life to the world." Suppose he had been 
asked, if he woujd give life to the world, irre- 
spective of moral character ? In what light would 
the question present him who asked it ? Jesus 
represented the process of the sinner's salvation, 
16 



182 SALVATION IRRESPECTIVE OF CHARACTER. 

by the recovery of a lost sheep, which had gone 
astray — by the owner who went after it, found it, 
and carried it home on his own shoulder; and 
applied his parable by saying, " Joy shall be in 
heaven over one sinner that repenteth." Who 
recovered the sheep that was lost? The owner. 
Who saves the sinner? Jesus Christ. How 
does he save him? By bringing him to repent- 
ance. Does he do this irrespective of moral 
character? The reader sees that the question 
proves either the ignorance or insincerity of him 
who asks it. 

God spake to the house of Israel on this wise, 
by Ezekiel : " Then will I sprinkle clean water 
upon you, and ye shall be clean ; from all your 
nlthiness r and from all your idols will I cleanse 
you. A new heart also will I give you, and a 
new spirit will I put within you ; and I will take 
away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will 
give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my 
spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my 
statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do 
them." Here let us hear the learned divine of 
our times, ask the grave question, whether God 



SALVATION IRRESPECTIVE OF CHARACTER. 183 



meant he would do all this for his people, irre- 
spective of their moral character ? Could God do 
this without working an entire change of their 
moral character? Look at these words : "Then 
will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall 
be clean." Here comes the wonderful, the pro- 
found question, — Will God sprinkle clean water 
on that which is unclean ? By the prophet Isa- 
iah, God said he would give his elect "a cove- 
nant of the people ; for a light of the Gentiles ; to 
open the blind eyes ; to bring out the prisoners 
from the prison, and them that sit in darkness 
out of the prison-house." Does not the darkness 
of the Gentiles indicate their moral condition ; and 
their blindness and imprisonment their sinful 
state ? And if Christ is to them a light, and if he 
opens their eyes, and brings them out of their 
sinful condition, is it reasonable to bring the ob- 
jection to all this, that it is irrespective of moral 
character; that it does not allow the freedom of 
the human will? Jesus sent Paul to the Gentiles 
" to open their eyes ; to turn them from darkness 
to light ; from the power of Satan unto God, that 
they might receive the remission of sins, and an 



184 SALVATION IRRESPECTIVE OF CHARACTER. 

inheritance among all them who were sanctified 
by faith which was in him." Was all this to be 
done irrespective of moral character ? Does it ' 
not necessarily imply an entire change of moral 
character ? Could any sincere person reasonably 
object to all this, because it is unconditional as to 
moral character? Malachi, speaking of the com- 
ing of the Messiah, says : " But who may abide 
the day of his coming? and who shall stand when 
he appeareth ? for he is like a refiner's fire, and 
like fuller's soap ; and he shall sit as a refiner and 
purifier of silver ; and he shall purify the sons of 
Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that 
they may offer unto the Lord an offering in right- 
eousness." As no one can doubt that moral 
purification is here signified, would it not be a 
most unreasonable objection to the passage to say 
that this promise of purifying is irrespective of 
moral character? 

St. Paul, in his epistle to the Ephesians, thus 
exhorts : " Husbands, love your wives, even as 
Christ also loved the church, and gave himself 
for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with 
the washing of water by the word ; that he might 



SALVATION IRRESPECTIVE OF CHARACTER. 185 



present it to himself a glorious church, not having 
spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing ; but that it 
should be holy, and without blemish." Now, as 
the same apostle informs us that the one mediator 
between God and men gave himself a ransom for 
all men, it is evident that he considered all men 
members of Christ's church, and that he gave 
himself for this church because he loved it in its 
unclean state, and that he gave himself for the 
church, that he might purify and cleanse it. 
How will the objection lie against the accom- 
plishment of this work of purifying mankind, 
that it is irrespective of moral character ? To 
Titus, Paul, speaking of our Saviour Jesus 
Christ, says : " Who gave himself for us, that he 
might redeem us from all iniquity; and purify 
unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good 
works." Shall we object to the accomplishment 
of this w 7 ork of purification, because it is irre- 
spective of moral character? When the Saviour 
was accused of being a friend to publicans and 
sinners, his reply was, " The whole need not a 
physician, but they that are sick." By this we 
learn that Jesus regards the sinner as the kind 
16* 



186 SALVATION IRRESPECTIVE CF CHARACTER. 

and skilful physician does the sick patient. Who 
ever complained of a physician because he healed 
his patient, irrespective of the state and condition ' 
of his physical system ? False doctrine would 
allow the doctor to be very free with his medi- 
cine, and bestow it most liberally, on condition 
that his patient should first become convalescent. 
And it would most graciously excuse the Saviour 
of mankind, should he manifest compassion to 
such as should recover themselves from a sinful 
to a holy condition. But to go directly to a sin- 
ner, and save him from being a sinner, is saving 
him irrespective of moral character, and is there- 
fore wrong! Did the Lord Jesus effect the con- 
version of Saul irrespective of his moral charac- 
ter? The whole subject is seen in this simple 
question : "Was Saul fit to become a Christian ? 
Is a sinner fit to be saved from sin? Is a sick 
person fit to be cured? Is a blind man fit to have 
his eyes opened ? Are such as are dead in sin 
fit to be quickened into a life of holiness? We 
must put such questions as these to our opposers 
in order to open their eyes ; in order to turn them 
from darkness to light ; from the power of Satan 



SALVATION IRRESPECTIVE OF CHARACTER. 187 

unto God. If we should ask a person who was 
about to wash a garment, whether so filthy a 
garment was fit to be cleansed, would the ques- 
tion indicate good sense? See Rev. i. 5: "Unto 
him that loved us, and washed us from our sins 
in his own blood." Did Jesus love us when we 
were sinners ? Were we fit, when sinners, to be 
washed from our sins ? Were we washed from 
our sins irrespective of our moral character ? 

If we can succeed in persuading the opposers 
of Universalism to consider, with a suitable 
degree of candor, the queries and suggestions 
which are here presented, a hope is entertained 
that some good may be the result ; and that we 
shall hear less said against the salvation of sin- 
ners, because the doctrine is licentious. 

Many of our Unitarian brethren have lately 
manifested a disposition to show some favor to 
Universalism, if it be so modified as to teach the 
certainty of a future state of rewards and punish- 
ments. This they contend is indispensable ; and 



desire to reason with these brethren on this sub- 
ject, and endeavor to show them the impropriety of 



188 SALVATION IRRESPECTIVE OF CHARACTER. 

the position they have taken. We ask, in the first 
place, what they mean by rewards and punish- 
ments in a future state ? Do they mean that 
righteousness, in this life, is to be recompensed in 
a future state ? If so, when will the righteous- 
ness of that future state be recompensed ? If 
the righteousness of this state is not recompensed 
here, why will the righteousness of the future 
state be recompensed there ? According to such 
a theory, recompense will forever be one state of 
existence in arrear. The same argument will 
hold good in regard to punishment. If the wick- 
edness of this state is to be punished in the 
future state, where will the wickedness of the 
future state be punished ? Punishment must 
forever remain one state of man's existence in 
arrear. Contrary to this Unitarian theory, divine 
truth says : — " Behold the righteous shall be 
recompensed in the earth; much more the wicked 
and the sinner." If our brethren were not most 
astonishingly blind, they would see that to teach 
that wickedness is not fully punished in this 
world, is the most licentious doctrine ever in- 
vented; and is, in the very nature of things, the 

! 

! 

i 
I 



SALVATION IRRESPECTIVE OF CHARACTER. 189 

only deception which leads into sin. Who in all 
the world ever committed a sin with an expecta- 
tion of gaining any happiness thereby in a future 
state : or who did not hope, not only to gain 
something desirable here, but to avoid the pun- 
ishment of his wrong ? If wickedness does not 
sufficiently punish the transgressor, w T hat is there 
which is so much worse than wickedness that 
can do it ? And if righteousness does not suffi- 
ciently reward the well doer, what is there so 
much better than righteousness that can do this ? 
Notwithstanding these arguments, if our breth- 
ren will show us a " thus saith the Lord," to 
prove that sin and misery will exist in a future 
state, we pledge our sincerity to subscribe to its 
truth. 



HUMAN ABILITY 

IN RELATION TO 

GOSPEL SALVATION 



Under the above caption, we propose to sub- 
mit to our readers a concise analysis of what we 
suppose is generally meant by free-agency, moral 
agency, or free will, as it regards what is meant 
in Scripture by salvation. This statement will, 
doubtless, bring to the reader's mind the great 
question on which the Christian church has, for 
many ages, been divided; and raise the question 
in his mind, whether the writer is vain enough to 
attempt to settle a controversy, which all the 
learning of the schools has, after ages of profound 
endeavor, been compelled to suffer to continue ? 
In reply to this question, we would say, our pres- 
ent purpose is to present the subject in such a 
shape or phasis as to make it more simple, and 
more easy of understanding, than learned theolo- 



HUMAN ABILITY, ETC. 191 

gians have usually done ; so that the free use 
of common sense, aided by undoubted Scripture 
authority, may come at a safe and satisfactory 
conclusion. 

Let us, in the first place, fix our minds on a 
few points about which no different opinions are 
entertained. 

1st. In respect to the character of our Heavenly 
Father. All will agree in ascribing to him all 
moral perfections, such as wisdom, knowledge, 
power, justice, mercy, and goodness ; and will 
also agree in the belief that all these attributes 
harmonize in infinite love. We do not believe 
that any sensible reader will ask us to labor to 
prove this. 

2d. We shall take it for granted, that all Chris- 
tian people are. agreed in the belief, that whatever 
is true in relation to man's salvation was em- 
braced in the divine purpose, even before man 
was formed of the dust of the ground. 

3d. We shall also take it for granted, that the 
divine perfections, in their very nature, preclude 
the possibility that God should purpose anything, 
and leave it uncertain ; or that he should create 



192 HUMAN ABILITY IN RELATION 

anything for a purpose which it may fail to ac- 
complish. 

Taking it for granted that these particulars 
will be considered as self-evident facts, we shall 
feel safe in our reasoning while we keep our argu- 
ments clearly consistent with them ; and equally 
secure in rejecting anything which disagrees with 
any of them. 

Our next inquiry will seek to ascertain what 
the Bible means by salvation. The Christian 
church has for ages been in the dark respecting 
this question. The necessity and nature of salva- 
tion are set forth in the creed of the church by 
the following questions and answers : " Ques- 
tion. What estate did the fall bring mankind 
into ? Answer. All mankind, by the fall, lost 
communion with God, fell under his wrath and 
curse, were made liable to all the miseries of 
this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell 
forever. Question. Did God leave all mankind 
to perish in this state of sin and misery ? An- 
swer. God, from all eternity, out of his mere good 
will and pleasure, elected some to everlasting life ; 
and did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver 



TO GOSPEL SALVATION. 



193 



them out of a state of sin and misery, into a state 
of salvation, by a Redeemer." There are three 
modes of expressing what is meant by salvation, 
according to the above questions and answers. 
1st. Salvation from divine wrath. 2d. Salvation 
from the everlasting pains of hell beyond death. 
3d. Salvation from the just punishment of sin. 
We need not spend time to show that these three 
modes agree in one. The wrath of God, under 
which men fell, was the pains of hell forever, and 
these everlasting pains were the just punishment 
of sin. In relation to this scheme, a few suofg-es- 
tions may be useful. It seems quite unreason- 
able that God should l>3 the author of any means 
whereby his creatures should be saved from his 
own wrath; and it is also disproved by the testi- 
mony of Jesus, in which he assures us that it was 
pursuant to God's love to the world that he was 
sent to save it. It would be difficult to state any- 
thing more unreasonable than to say that God so 
loved sinners that he sent his beloved Son to save 
them from his own wrath ! It seems just, also, to 
remark, that, as all our doctors who believe in the 
existence of the hell which they have held up to 
17 



194 HUMAN ABILITY IN RELATION 

the people, believe that God designed it for the 
endless punishment of sinners, they are quite 
unreasonable in supposing that He has devised 
means to prevent the accomplishment of this pur- 
pose ! To these remarks we may add, that our 
doctors have been quite as unreasonable in con- 
tending, as they have done, that God will render 
unto every man according to his works, and will 
bring every work into judgment, with every secret 
thing, whether it be good or evil, when, at the 
same time, they have no other salvation to preach 
to the people than salvation from the punish- 
ment of their sins. 

When we consider the unreasonableness of the 
scheme of salvation as has been held in the 
church, and when we come to learn that there is 
not an intimation in all the Scriptures of any 
such salvation, we may marvel at the blindness 
and total ignorance of the doctors of the church 
respecting this vast and all-important subject. 
But, when we understand their errors, we need 
not wonder at the innumerable inventions, arts, 
and contrivances, to which the schools have been 
driven; and the endless jargons which we meet 
with in what are called bodies of divinity. 



TO GOSPEL SALVATION. 



195 



On the subject of Gospel Salvation, the Scrip- 
tures are as clear and definite as is required in 
order to be understood by even the unlearned, 
allowing they can barely read them. The Scrip- 
tures teach a salvation from a condition which 
the people were in ; not from a condition which 
they were in danger of being in, in a future 
state ; not from the punishment of sin, but from 
sin itself. Jesus came to save his people from 
their sins. He came, not to call the righteous, 
but sinners, to repentance. He came to seek and 
to save that which ivas lost ; not that which was 
not already lost. Paul says : " If our gospel be 
hid, it is hid to them who are lost ; in whom the 
god of this world hath blinded the minds of those 
who believe not, lest the light of the glorious 
gospel, which is the image of God, should shine 
unto them." The salvation of sinners is repre- 
sented by washing and by purifying. St. Paul 
says : " Christ loved the church, and gave him- 
self for it, that he might wash it with the wash- 
ing of water by the Word." Again, he says, 
" Our Saviour, Jesus Christ, gave himself for us, 
that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and 



198 HUMAN ABILITY IN RELATION 

purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of 
good works." In another place he sets forth sal- 
vation thus : " And you hath he quickened, who 
were dead in trespasses and sins ; wherein in 
time past ye walked according to the course of 
this world, according to the Prince of the power 
of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the 
children of disobedience ; among whom also we 
all had our conversation in times past in the lusts 
of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and 
of the mind, and were by nature the children of 
wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in 
mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 
even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened 
us together with Christ, (by grace are ye saved,) 
and hath raised us up together; and made us sit 
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus; that 
in the ages to come he might show the exceeding 
riches of his grace, in his kindness towards us 
through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved 
through faith ; and that not of yourselves, it is 
the gift of God ; not of works, lest any man 
should boast. For we are his workmanship, 
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which 



TO GOSPEL SALVATION. 



197 



God hath before ordained that we should walk in 
them." Such plain language cannot be misun- 
derstood. Isaiah uses different representations 
of the same great subject, but equally easy to 
understand. See the following: "I the Lord 
have called thee in righteousness, and will hold 
thine hand, and will give thee for a covenant of 
the people for a light of the Gentiles ; to open the 
blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the 
prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the 
prison-house." Here are the words of Malachi : 
" But who may abide the day of his coming ? 
and who shall stand when he appeareth ? For he 
is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap ; and 
he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver ; 
and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge 
them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto 
the Lord an offering in righteousness." Of Jesus, 
John said, " Behold the Lamb of God, which 
taketh away the sin of the world ! " Hear the 
words of the redeemed : " Unto him that loved 
us, and washed us from our sins in his own 
blood ! " We quote one more form of expressing 
Gospel salvation : " And all things are of God, 
17* 



198 HUMAN ABILITY IN KELATION 

who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, 
and hath given to us the ministry of reconcilia- 
tion ; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling 
the world unto himself, not imputing their tres- 
passes unto them ; and hath committed unto us 
the word of reconciliation. Now, then, we are 
ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech 
you by us ; we pray you in Christ's stead be ye 
reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be 
sin for us, who knew no sin ; that we might be 
made the righteousness of God in him." Stand- 
ing in the light of those Scriptures, all must 
understand what they mean by Gospel salvation. 
Although the question, whether this salvation 
is purposed by its divine Author for all men, is 
not now under consideration, we should always 
bear it in mind that, " God will have all men to 
be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of 
the truth ;" an-d that he " worketh all things 
according to his own will." 

We come now to consider the use of human 
ability in the work of Gospel salvation. And 
now we must bring our subject directly into the 
light of those particulars in which all are agreed, 



TO GOSPEL SALVATION. 



199 



which were noticed in the commencement of this 
article. The whole and the all of this great and 
universal salvation was embraced in the purpose 
of our Heavenly Father, before man was formed of 
the dust of the earth. And this purpose is in per- 
fect agreement with all the adorable attributes of 
the Creator and Ruler of all worlds and beings. 
Our reason, thus assisted, sees clearly that our 
Heavenly Father must have provided all the 
means, all the powers, all the agencies, and ap- 
pointed all the operations and exercises of all the 
powers and means by him provided and by him 
controlled, necessary to accomplish his whole pur- 
pose. Now, reader, if you will carefully examine 
the whole subject of Gospel salvation, as set forth 
in the Scriptures, you must understand that such 
a salvation requires the mental exercise of all the 
moral powers of man, as necessarily as it requires 
the action of the eye in order to see the light or 
to distinguish objects by it. But you must also 
as clearly see and understand, that the wisdom 
and power of God are just as much manifested in 
the former case as in the latter. God made the 
eye, and by it we see ; God gave us our moral 



200 HUMAN ABILITY IN RELATION 

powers, and by them we perceive ; and by our 
perceptions of his character, we are drawn in love 
to him. This love constitutes salvation, and fills 
us with the divine nature. 

In the view which we now have of our subject, 
we are enabled to realize the entire uncondition- 
ality of the divine appointments, and the infal- 
lible certainty of their accomplishment. If our 
Heavenly Father had revealed to us, as a fact, 
that he had given us powers which are not under 
his control, and whose operations he had not ap- 
pointed, we should have had a very different sub- 
ject to contemplate, and one which must have 
deprived us of all trust and confidence either in 
God or ourselves ! But we rejoice that no such 
revelation is made. 

It is argued by many, that our spiritual inter- 
ests are as much, committed- to our agency as are 
our temporal concerns. And as we know, that if 
we do not sow and plant, and till the soil, we 
shall have no bread, so, if we do not obey the 
commandments of God, we can have no rational 
hope of salvation. Now, what does all this 
amount to ? Does it not mean that God has not 



TO GOSPEL SALVATION. 201 

made our spiritual interest secure, and that he 
has left it with us to decide the matter ? Yes, 
this is the meaning of the argument. But, let us 
ask if God has left our temporal concerns on con- 
ditions which involve uncertainty? Is he not 
the maker of the earth and its fruitfulness ? Is 
he not the maker of all our physical powers, and 
the author of all our wants, appetites, and desires ? 
Has he not given us skill to labor, and by these 
means has he not made sure our sustenance ? 
And when our provisions are on our tables, do 
we not, with much propriety, thank him for them, 
and for our strength by which they were pro- 
cured, as well as for our appetites to receive 
them? All this must be granted. Where, then, 
is the uncertainty? Was it less certain, a thou- 
sand years ago, that the quantity of provisions 
raised this year in the United States, and in all 
the rest of the world, would be so raised, than it 
is now that it has been raised ? And was it less 
certain, a thousand years ago, that all the labor 
which has been employed in producing this quan- 
tity of provisions would be so employed, than it 
is now that it has been ? Was it less certain, a 



202 HUMAN ABILITY IN RELATION 

thousand years ago, that all the mason-work now 
in the world would now be, than that it now is ? 
Or was it less certain, a thousand years ago, that 
all the science and labor which have contributed 
to this vast work would be so employed, than it 
now is that it has been so employed ? Was it 
less certain, a thousand years ago, that the twenty 
millions of people in the United States would 
enjoy all the blessings of independence and of a 
republican government now, than it is that they 
do now enjoy those blessings ? And was it less 
certain, a thousand years ago, that the wars and 
revolutions, the political strifes and bitter animos- 
ities, which have led to the present state of our 
country, would take place, than it now is that 
they have taken place? Was it less certain, a 
thousand years ago, that all the genuine Chris- 
tians who are now in the world would now be, 
than it now is that they are ? And was it less 
true, a thousand years ago, that all the mental 
and moral exercises which have led to this pure, 
experimental Christianity, would result as they 
have, than that they have now so resulted ? Is 
it an incomprehensible mystery, that God is the 



TO GOSPEL SALVATION. 203 

Author of what his own works produce ? Or can 
we reasonably doubt the exact fulfilment of all 
which God has purposed by all the works of his 
hands? "Of Him, and through Him, and to 
Him are all things ; to whom be glory, forever. 
Amen." 



THE VALUE OF GOOD WORKS. 



There has been much dispute in the church 
in regard to the estimation in which good works 
should be held. While, on the one hand, one class 
of Christian doctors have been accused of depend- 
ing- on good works for what the Scriptures call 
salvation, those doctors who urge this accusation 
have, in return, been accused of excluding good 
works as worthless. It is true, moreover, that 
the schools have found it extremely difficult so to 
derine their respective positions in relation to the 
dispute, as to make it easy to understand what 
each in reality wishes to teach. Nothing is more 
common than to hear it stated from the pulpit 
that the divine favor can be granted only on con- 
dition of obeying the divine commands ; and at 
the same time, and from the same lips, we hear it 
asserted that it is by free grace we are saved, and 
not by any works of righteousness wrought bjr 



THE VALUE OF GOOD WORKS. 205 

us. There are not a few who complain of their 
preachers for what seem to them contradictions 
in preaching; for although the learned preacher 
thinks he is able to understand these matters, he 
is not able to make his hearers understand them. 

Tiie design of this attempt is to present the 
reader with the true value of good works, and the 
place they occupy in the divine economy, in so 
plain and simple a manner, that all who read may 
understand. 

The Scriptures are so explicit on this weighty 
and momentous subject, that we cannot read them 
without being surprised that learned theologians 
should ever have had any doubts or controversy 
on the subject. Some of those passages which 
were quoted to show the nature of what the 
Scriptures call salvation, in a former article, are 
here introduced again, for the purpose of bringing 
our present subject to the understanding of the 
reader. Eph. ii. 1 — 10 : " And you hath he 
quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins ; 
wherein in time past ye walked according to the 
course of this world, according to the Prince of 
the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh 
18 



206 



THE VALUE OF GOOD WORKS. 



in the children of disobedience ; among whom 
also we all had our conversation in times past in 
the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the 
flesh and of the mind ; and were by nature the 
children of wrath, even as others. But God, who 
is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he 
loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath 
quickened us together with Christ, (by grace are 
ye saved;) and hath raised us up together, and 
made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ 
Jesus ; that, in the ages to come, he might show 
the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness 
towards us through Christ Jesus. For by grace 
are ye saved through faith ; and that not of your- 
selves, it is the gift of God ; not of works, lest any 
man should boast. For we are his workmanship, 
created in Christ Jesus, unto good works, which 
God hath before ordained that we should walk in 
them." In this scripture the Apostle sets forth 
the moral condition from which he and his Chris- 
tian brethren had obtained salvation, by the grace 
of God through Jesus Christ. He carefully sets 
forth the fact, that God had effected this salvation 
on account of the o-reat love wherewith he loved 



THE VALUE OF GOOD WORKS. 207 

them while they were dead in sins, and of course, 
not on account of any works by them performed. 
Here, then, it is plainly seen, that God's saving 
grace is not granted to us on condition of our 
good works. But, if the reader will be careful 
to understand the Apostle's argument, he will 
clearly see that the good works of the saved are 
the natural fruits of their salvation. Carefully 
notice the Apostle's words : " For we are his 
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, unto good 
works, which God hath before ordained that we 
should w T alk in them." Here we see things in 
their natural order. Cause is not put for effect ; 
nor is effect put for cause. We see here, that 
God so highly esteems good works, that he takes 
sinners who are dead in sins, and quickens them 
into spiritual life ; and gives them a new creation 
in Christ Jesus, by which they are enabled to do 
those good works which he so highly esteems, 
and in which he fore-ordained they should walk. 
If we are cautious, as we ought to be, we shall 
understand that our good works were not required 
as conditions of the divine favor ; for that favor 
was bestowed on us while we were dead in sins. 



208 THE VALUE OF GOOD WORKS. 

! 

And we shall moreover see, that God so highly 
prizes good works, that he is at the expense of 
creating us in Christ Jesus, that we may be ena- 
bled to be fruitful in them. Let no one object to 
the word expense here used, for it cost the dire 
sufferings, blood, and death of the Mediator be- 
tween God and men, to effect the work of our 
redemption from sin. 

In his epistle to Titus, 2d chapter, verse 14th, 
the Apostle says, "Jesus Christ gave himself for 
us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and 
purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of 
good works." In this passage, we have the same 
doctrine as we found in the one quoted from 
Ephesians. The true value of good works is set 
forth in the clearest light. Why did Jesus give 
himself for us ? Answer. That he might redeem 
us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a 
peculiar people, zealous of good works. Reader, 
do you not see that these good works are the 

i fruits of our redemption from all iniquity, and of 

our purification? And do you not also see, that 
it would be a most unreasonable perversion of the 

text to say, that these good works are the con- 

l 

! 
! 
I 



THE VALUE OF GOOD WORKS. 



209 



ditions on which our redemption from all iniquity 
is granted ? 

The reader will now see, that, if divines have 
erred in their estimation of the real value of 
good works, it is not because they prized them 
too lightly ; but because they have placed them 
where they do not belong in the economy of 
divine wisdom. If Jesus gave himself for us, 
that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and 
purify us unto himself a peculiar people, zealous 
of good works, surely he must hold good works 
in as high esteem as we can well imagine. But 
surely he would not teach us that our good works 
were conditions on which our redemption and 
purification from sin and moral death were be- 
stowed ; for these were granted pursuant to that 
great love wherewith God loved us while we were 
dead in sins ; and were wrought for us to enable 
us to bring forth the desirable fruits of good 
works, agreeably to the divine ordination. 

In order further to illustrate our subject, we 

may notice again the following words : " For we 

are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto 

good works, which God hath before ordained, 

18* 



210 THE VALUE OF GOOD WORKS. 

that we should walk in them." There appears no 
more difficulty in understanding- the sense of these 
words, than there is in understanding what we 
may take from the physical economy as an illus- 
tration. It will be admitted, on all hands, that 
God fore-ordained that we should labor to pro- 
cure our temporal subsistence ; and it will also 
be granted, that the Creator bestowed on us facul- 
ties of both mind and body, suited to the end of 
performing this labor. Now let us ask, whether 
it is reasonable to pretend that these faculties of 
mind and body were bestowed on us as a reward 
of this labor ? Or that this labor was required as 
a condition on which these faculties of body and 
mind were bestowed on us? 

One great object for which Jesus gave himself 
for us was, that he might redeem us from all 
iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar peo- 
ple, zealous of good works. A people zealous of 
good works is a peculiar people. Let professed 
Christians always keep this in mind. To be zeal- 
ous about religious creeds, about religious rites 
and ceremonies, about worldly honors and riches, 
about distinctions in this world, and even in the 



THE VALUE OF GOOD WORKS. 211 

world to come, is nothing peculiar. But, to be 
zealous of good works, is very peculiar ! That 
the Christian may be thus peculiar, let him take 
heed to the precepts of the Divine Master. " I 
say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that 
curse you, do good to them that hate you, and 
pray for them which despitefully use you and 
persecute you. All things whatsoever ye would 
that men should do to you, do ye even so to 
them ; for this is the law and the prophets." 



ADVICE TO YOUNG PEOPLE 



Having, by the favor of Divine Providence, 
lived to an advanced age, and having spent many 
years in ministering to my fellow-creatures the 
divine doctrine of the Holy Scriptures, with fer- 
vent desires to assist in the work of removing 
doctrinal errors, which have long obscured the 
light of the Gospel, and dishonored the adorable 
character of our Heavenly Father ; and having 
all the time been persuaded, that a better knowl- 
edge of divine truth would certainly effect a de- 
sirable reformation in the morals of community, 
the writer of the following advice feels it his duty 
to leave behind him, when he shall be called away 
by the Divine Master, a few suggestions to young 
people, for the purpose of showing them some of 
those duties which genuine Christianity requires 
of them. 

Dear youth, if you have been favored with the 



ADVICE TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 213 

! 

right kind of religious instruction, you have been 
taught to view our Creator as your Heavenly 
Father, and to realize your moral obligations to 
love and serve him by yielding obedience to all 
j his requirements. Now, that you should thus 

conduct yourselves, you will see by understanding 
the reasonableness of the divine precepts, and 
their adaptation to your own interests. Our 
Heavenly Father is not dependent on his creatures 
for anything; the services and duties, therefore, 
which he requires of us, are all designed for our 
good, and are imposed on us by those favors we 
have already received, and are clearly pointed out 
to us by the favorable circumstances in which we 
are placed. These remarks are designed to in- 
duce you to look about you, and to consider what 
favors you have received of our Creator, and what 
are the circumstances and relations in which you 
find yourselves. 

Consider, first of all, the physical and moral 
constitutions conferred on you by the Creator. 
All your senses, all your faculties, both of body 
and mind, are the bestowments of the Creator. 
These all demand your gratitude. Be grateful, 



214 



ADVICE TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 



therefore, continually; and duly consider that 
gratitude is one of our sweetest enjoyments. Not 
only do our faculties of mind and body demand 
our gratitude to the Creator, but they point out to < 
us the use for which they were given. Seriously 
consider, then, what use is required of every 
sense and faculty of which you are possessed. 
This consideration will constantly admonish you 
of your duty, and against any forbidden use of 
your abilities. Learn to read yourselves, and 
contemplate the wisdom and goodness of God, 
which the moral and physical constitutions given 
you by him are calculated to teach, and you will 
find that the pages of this divine work are full of 
most useful instruction. 

Your family relations make important and pow- 
erful demands on your most devoted services. 
Next to your Maker, he has placed your parents 
and family connections. " Honor thy father and 
thy mother," is a divine command, obedience to 
which constitutes the brightest gem in the charac- 
ter of sons and daughters. As you cannot fully 
estimate the pleasure you give your parents by 
treating them as filial duty requires, so are you 



ADVICE TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 



215 



unable duly to comprehend the mental pain they 
endure when improperly treated by their offspring. 
When you are in their presence, listen to their 
counsels, and give heed to their admonitions ; 
and when absent from them, keep them in your 
minds, and be careful to do nothing which you 
are sensible they would disapprove. Are they 
sick ? Watch over them. Are they needy ? Ad- 
minister liberally to their necessities ; and remem- 
ber them in your prayers to your Father in 
heaven. Children who are not neglectful of their 
duties to their parents, will, of necessity, keep 
themselves from all improper or unlawful indul- 
gences ; for nothing is more unkind to parents 
than blots of vice on the characters of the chil- 
dren they love. Could sons and daughters prop- 
erly consider these matters, how pure would they 
keep themselves, for their parents' sake as well as 
their own ! If you would be approved of Heaven, 
if you would do your duty to your parents, if 
you would secure peace and enjoyment in the 
family circle, be kind and loving to your brothers 
and sisters. The variegated beauties of a garden 
of flowers are not more charming than are urban- 



"1 



216 



ADVICE TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 



ity and loving-kindness among brothers and sis- 
ters of the same domestic circle. 

Our religion, beloved youth, teaches us that the 
same moral principles which ought to have their ' 
permanent home in all our hearts, and which, 
point out the duties of children to their parents, 
and to each other, if duly regarded, will direct 
you how to discharge all your duties to commu- 
nity at large. If you properly consider your rela- 
tion to society, you will soon acquaint yourselves 
with those obligations which are necessarily im- 
posed on you by such relation. And here, again, 
opens to your view the delightful field of your 
labor in doing good to all around you to the 
utmost of all your means. Humanity is one great 
family; for our Heavenly Father "hath made of 
one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all 
the face of the earth;" and has revealed himself 
in one Mediator, as the Father and benefactor of 
all. This great fundamental truth you have al- 
ready been taught by the Holy Scriptures, by the 
minister on whose preaching you have attended, 
by your pious parents, and in your Sabbath 
schools. Your aced and affectionate adviser 



ADVICE TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 217 

would call your attention to your duties, which 
the religion you have been taught requires. As 
every element of material nature is the com- 
mon undivided inheritance of the whole human 
family, so are all the divine riches of that wisdom 
and love which God has revealed in his beloved 
Son, our common Lord and Saviour. That your 
virtues may correspond with the religion you have 
been taught, you will perceive that your benevo- 
lence must be universal, your love impartial, and 
without dissimulation. 

For many ages, young people have been so 
educated as to consider religion and its duties as 
unsuitable to their age, and of a nature which is 
incompatible with their enjoyments. The reason 
of this injurious mistake was the opinion that 
virtue was estimable on account of the reward it 
merited in a future state ; and that wickedness 
and vice yielded desirable pleasures in this world, 
but exposed the sinner to unmerciful punishment 
hereafter, unless repented of before death. Ac- 
cordingly, young people shunned religion and the 
blessed precepts it requires, and sought happiness 
where it was never found. Thank God, that in- 
19 



218 ADVICE TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 

jurious doctrine is passing away ; and young and 
old are opening their eyes to the truth that "wis- 
dom's ways are ways of pleasantness, and all 
her paths are peace;" and that the "way of ' 
the transgressor is hard." Many eyes are now 
opened to see that our Creator has inseparably 
united our duty, in all the relations of life, with 
our enjoyment; and has wisely ordained that 
every transgression and disobedience should re- 
ceive a just recompense in the state in which they 
are practised. These divine truths, understood, 
and kept constantly in mind, will naturally draw 
you- away from unlawful indulgences, from im- 
pious practices, and irreligious habits. 

In regard to religion and its duties, you are 
advised to learn to distinguish between the true 
and the false; between outward rites and vital 
principles ; between superstition and a sound un- 
derstanding. " Sanctify the Lord God in your 
hearts," at all times, as an object of constant love 
and devotion, whose true worship is in spirit and 
truth, in filial love and obedience. As to out- 
ward forms, they justly claim your attention, so 
far as reasonable customs demand. Attendance 



ADVICE TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 219 

on the services of the sanctuary on the Sabbath 
cannot, with propriety, be omitted, without some 
reasonable excuse. And you are most affection- 
ately advised to unite with older Christians in 
celebrating the Lord's Supper, as well as in the 
rest of the services of the sanctuary. If you do 
these things, and walk worthy of them, you will 
find rich blessings in so doing. 

Though you are young, it is your duty to make 
yourselves acquainted with the principles of your 
country's government and laws, and by all means 
submit to all their requirements, as good citizens. 

You scarcely need to be advised in regard to 
your education ; in relation to the acquisition of 
scientific knowledge, and an acquaintance with 
the useful arts. Such are the facilities which are 
now enjoyed for improvement in these useful 
things, and so well is their necessity understood, 
that you scarcely need to be advised on the sub- 
ject, more than on that of the use of food for the 
body. 

Doubtless, youth need advice to avoid that mor- 
bid habit which now prevails, of reading novels 
and exciting stories night and day, to such excess 



220 ADVICE TO YOUNG PEOPLE. 



as to weaken both mind and body, to the neglect 



i 
i 
of the duties of life. Such habits serve to unset- 



tle the mind, and fix the fancy on unrealities ; 
and deprive you of substantial realities and solid 
enjoyments. Read and study your Bibles ; read 
and acquaint yourselves with approved histories. 
There is one subject more which your adviser 
cannot persuade himself to omit ; and yet, though 
it be of vast moment, it is of such a delicate 
nature as to render it dangerous to approach it. 
Beloved youth, consider ! reflect ! It may be pre- 
sumed that you anticipate the subject. You are 
right. It is no less than the relation, the sacred 
relation, of "male and female," which the Creator 
has constituted. If you duly consider the pur- 
poses of divine wisdom in this most sacred rela- 
tion, you must be sensible that any forbidden 
indulgences in this relation must be attended 
with evils corresponding with their odious charac- 
ter. Do you ask when these evils will be felt 
i 

and suffered ? Be assured they must be expe- 
rienced as bitter weeds, as briars and thorns, in 
that domestic garden, which the purity of honor 
and virtue would have rendered a blooming and 
fruitful paradise. 



SALVATION BY GRACE 



~1 



Under this head, I find a brother has referred 
to what I said in my remarks on one of the 
resolutions published in the "Trumpet" some 
weeks ago, and which were passed by " The 
Merrimac River Universalist Ministerial Asso- 
ciation." My remarks were published in the 
"Trumpet" of October 20th, and my brother's 
notice of them is in the "Freeman" of Novem- 
ber 16th. He says that my notice of the article 
is " not wholly approbative." Now as but few of 
the readers of the "Freeman" may have seen 
my remarks on those resolutions, I have a desire 
that the readers of that paper should have an 
opportunity to read what I offered on the one 
noticed by my brother. The resolution reads as 
follows : — 

" That it is inexpedient and practically unprofitable 
to teach that the exercise of man's moral agency is to 
have no part in the attainment of salvation." 
19* 



222 SALVATION BY GRACE. 

On this resolution I offered the following no- 
tice : — 

" Here we are presented with a certain some- 
thing, expressed by two words, neither of which 
is found in the Scriptures, ' moral agency.' What 
is it ? It is supposed to be something that belongs 
to man, which is exercised in man's salvation. Is 
it something which the Creator has made and 
given to man as an essential part of his being ? 
If so, was it designed by its Author to perform a 
certain part of man's salvation ? If so, it will 
certainly do it, if divine wisdom has made no 
mistake ! Is it something which is included in 
the following words of St. Paul, recorded in Eph. 
li. 8 — 10 ? ' For by grace are ye saved through 
faith ; and that not of yourselves ; it is the gift 
of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast. 
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ 
Jesus unto good works, which God hath before 
ordained that we should walk in them.' Is this 
moral agency also embraced in the following pas- 
sage ? Phil. ii. 12, 13. ' Work out your own 
salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God 
which worketh in you both to will and to do of 



SALVATION BY GRACE. 223 

his good pleasure.' These passages plainly show, 
that what the Scriptures mean by salvation is 
effected pursuant to the divine purpose, and by a 
divine influence in the mind or understanding of 
man, rendering the will devoted to the service of 
God, as expressed by the converted Saul, who 
said, — 'Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?' 
If what is meant by man's moral agency, as 
expressed in the resolution, is comprehended in 
those passages above cited, was it ever known 
that our ministry disallowed it ? Our ministry 
has heretofore, and it is hoped that it will con- 
tinue to disallow any power in man to prevent a 
work which God, in mercy, has purposed to effect 
by his grace." This is all which I offered in my 
notice of the resolution under consideration. 

I have no inclination to find fault with my 
brother, but I do regret that he made any refer- 
ence to what I wrote without taking the least 
notice of the important queries by me stated. I 
cited two passages, which speak of our salvation, 
and asked whether what brethren meant by moral 
agency was comprehended in them. Then I asked, 
if what they meant by moral agency was set forth 



224 SALVATION BY GRACE. 

or included in those Scriptures, whether it was 
ever known that our ministry ever denied it ? I 
presume no one will deny that the resolution sig- 
nified that our ministry had been in fault, by 
teaching what the resolution deems to be inex- 
pedient and practically unprofitable. I asked 
whether this moral agency was something which 
God constituted in man, as part of his being ; and 
if so, was it designed by the Creator to perform 
any part of man's salvation ? And I moreover 
added, that if God had created this moral agency 
for this purpose, it would certainly answer that 
purpose, if divine wisdom had made no mistake ! 
This last remark was designed to show, w r hat it 
does most evidently show, viz., that what theo- 
logians have meant by moral agency, or free 
agency, is in fact a mere chimera. What they 
have meant by it is, an ability which it is possible 
for man to exercise, in a way to prevent a work 
of divine grace, which our Heavenly Father is 
disposed to accomplish in our salvation. If our 
Heavenly Father has given us faculties for certain 
purposes, to say that they will prevent his own 
designs, or that such a thing is possible, is to deny 



SALVATION BY GRACE. 



225 



the perfection of his works. If brethren believe 
in such an agency, they should say so plainly. 
If they do not believe in such an agency, what 
necessity was there for the resolution under con- 
sideration ? If they will tell me that they mean 
nothing more by human agency than those abil- 
ities or faculties which God has given us, and 
w r hich are so under his control that he can and 
does, by the means which he has appointed, illu- 
minate and deliver from moral darkness, and fill 
them all with divine love, so that the whole man 
becomes active in all duties which divine love 
requires, I will find no fault if they choose to 
name such faculties moral agency, though I see 
no propriety in the use of the terms. 

My brother proposes the following question : 
" We want to know simply, whether the work of 
salvation — the freedom of the soul from sin — is 
done exclusively through the instrumentality of 
God's grace ; or whether the instrumentality of 
man's moral action comes in and assists the 
work?" After stating this question, he adds, — 
"Now this, I apprehend, is a plain question. It 
does not require any learned essay in metaphysics 



226 



SALVATION BY GRACE. 



to solve it. Every one can understand it, as easily 
as he can the question whether the harvests of 
our fields are enjoyed by us as the free gifts of 
God, coming to us through the instrumentality 
of divine agency, without any effort of ours, or 
whether they come through the divine instru- 
mentality, and yet our agency acts in cooperation 
therewith ? This is not an abstruse question. It 
is one that can be answered to the satisfaction of 
all. We know that our harvests do not come, 
exclusively, from the divine agency, but that the 
efforts of man are in requisition, without which 
we do not reap. Here we know the divine and 
human agencies cooperate. God gives us the 
rich soil, the early and the latter rains, the genial 
sunshine, and all other influences suited to pro- 
duce the crop ; and yet the harvests will not be 
reaped, unless we sow the seed, till the soil, 
and protect the field against the ravages of the 
spoiler." 

By these remarks, it seems that our brother 
thinks he has made the subject all plain, and 
decided the whole matter. But as for myself, I 
cannot understand him, if he has not left the sub- 



SALVATION BY GRACE. 227 

ject all in confusion. What does he mean by- 
divine instrumentality ? What does he mean by 
the instrumentality of man's moral action ? If 
he does not mean to speak of two distinct instru- 
mentalities, I know not what he means. But if 
he does mean this, can he mean that one mind 
directs all the means, called instrumentalities ; or 
are there two minds, one for each instrumental- 
ity ? Does he mean that God, intending to free 
the soul from sin, puts in motion such instrumen- 
talities as are necessary to do all which belongs to 
him to do in the work, knowing, at the same time, 
that unless the sinner puts in operation other in- 
strumentalities for the same purpose, and thus 
cooperates with him in the work, all he does will 
be useless ? With entire ease can sinners render 
the whole scheme of gospel salvation null and 
void. They have only to fold their arms, lie still, 
and do nothing ! 

Thus men, inert, remain supine, 
And render void the scheme divine ! 

Who can believe he means all this ? And yet 
who can deny that he not only means all this, but 
even thinks he has proved it ? Has he not shown 



228 



SALVATION BY GRACE. 



us, that God, oar kind providential Father, has, 
for the benevolent purpose of feeding us, his chil- 
dren, put in operation various instrumentalities, 
such as a rich soil, genial sunshine and rains, and 
other influences, as far as is proper for him to 
provide, knowing, at the same time, that all these 
instrumentalities would fail entirely of the end 
designed, if we, his children, did not put in opera- 
tion other instrumentalities, and thereby cooperate 
with him in the good work? Was ever anything 
more clearly shown! Be careful, reader; if our 
brother does not mean to prove that it is possible 
for man to refuse to cooperate with the divine 
agency, but means that the divine agency has 
secured the operation of all the agency which he 
calls man's agency, then he certainly involves all 
the instrumentalities, of which he speaks, under 
the control of the divine agency. And now look 
at matters in the light of common sense. Is not 
God as evidently the author of all our powers of 
mind and body, of all our necessities and wants, 
and even our willingness to exert ourselves to use 
all the means he has given us to relieve our wants, 
as he is of the rich soil, the genial sunshine, and 



SALVATION BY GRACE. 



229 



the early and latter rains ? Now if all this must 
be granted, where shall we find that agency of 
man which is not under the divine control ? 

I notice one thing more, in what our brother 
has written, and I do it to show that he has fully 
conceded all which he meant to argue against. 
" We are not passive receivers of a foreign good. 
We are not simply the depositories of what God 
gives us; but we are put in motion, so to speak, 
and so far as we are benefited or saved by grace, 
we shall manifest the Christian fruits in holy 
lives." Notice, reader, " we are put in motion." 
What puts us in motion ? Answer, saving grace. 
Now T I ask, who in all the world doubts it ? The 
whole of this labored subject is comprehended in 
one short sentence. " We love him, because he 

first loved us." 

20 



NECESSITY AND FREE-WILL. 



In the " Universalist Quarterly " for January, 
1846, is presented to the public an essay on 
Divine and human agency, which treats on the 
subject of necessity and free-will, in which, as 
St. Peter said of the Epistles of St. Paul, are 
" some things which are hard to be understood." 
On page 26, we find the following : — 

The doctrine of necessity, then, appears not to 
cover the whole ground, at least in any form in which 
it has hitherto been defined. Though it be true as 
far as it goes, there are principles and modes of power 
it does not embrace. Man is not only acted upon by 
causes within and without, but, in some mysterious 
way, he does, at the same time, really act from him- 
self, even distinct from the action of God, in the same 
sense that his personality is distinct from the personal- 
ity of God. In both cases the sense must indeed be a 
limited one ; but who shall tell us where the boundary 
lies ? " 



NECESSITY AND FREE-WILL. 231 

It is really difficult to understand what the 
writer meant by what is here quoted. The doc- 
trine of necessity is allowed to a certain limited 
extent ; man is acted upon by causes within and 
without; and these actions are allowed to be the 
actions of God, if the writer be understood ; and 
the actions of those causes which are within the 
man, and without the man, and are allowed to be 
the actions of God, are exerted on the man at the 
same time that he acts from himself distinct from 
them, which he performs by means of " princi- 
ples and modes of power" which are not em- 
braced in the doctrine of necessity. Who can 
understand this ? Does man possess principles 
and modes of power which his Maker is not the 
author of? If God is the author of all the prin- 
ciples and modes of power which are in man, 
does not man necessarily possess them ? If so, 
then the doctrine of necessity does cover the 
ground on which they are established. 

What the writer means by these principles 
and modes of power is difficult to understand. It 
seems they are distinct from those causes which 
act upon man, and are within and without. 



232 



NECESSITY AND FREE-WILL. 



Neither man's wants, nor his desires, which are 
within, and are ever active in him, are allowed 
to belong to these principles and modes of power;, 
and yet it is evident that, without these wants 
and desires, man would never act. 

Though it is in vain to seek to know what is 
meant by these principles and modes of power, 
we may, for sake of further inquiry, allow their 
existence, and ask whether we are taught by the 
Scriptures, philosophy, metaphysics, or experi- 
ence, that we do, in reality, exercise any such 
principles and modes of power distinct from the 
causes within and without, which constantly act 
upon us, and do this at the same time those 
causes are acting upon us ? We further ask, if 
the Creator has given to man principles and 
modes of power, did he not purpose whatever 
results from them ? and did he not know that 
such purpose would be accomplished ? If all this 
must be allowed, as it evidently must be, what 
has the writer gained, by all he has said, in favor 
of free agency as distinct from the doctrine of 
necessity ? If nothing, then necessity covers the 
whole ground of the subject; and this he must 



NECESSITY AND FREE-WILL. 233 

allow, if lie admits that what God purposed in 
giving to man the principles and modes of power, 
of which he speaks, will be accomplished. 

But our writer will here say, that we run into 
Pantheism. See the page before the one from 
which we have quoted, where he says, — 

" Were we to take the doctrine of necessity as ade- 
quately expressing all there is in the case, and stop at 
the conclusion that every volition of ours, every move- 
ment of our minds, every act, is but a fixed link in the 
chain of causes and effects which run forth from God 
and constitute the universe, — let this be regarded as 
the whole of the matter, and we are brought to Panthe- 
ism at once. In this case, God is the sole agent, moral, 
intellectual, and physical. He does all the willing, he 
does all the thinking, through us ; he makes our char- 
acters for us, does our labor in the field and workshop, 
loves for us and hates for us, eats our dinners for us, 
perpetrates our crimes for us. Or, rather, he, being 
the sole agent, the only life of the whole, we do not ex- 
ist as persons, but merely as integral parts of him ; and 
it is he alone who acts in us, literally, his members." 

If what is here stated be correct and true, is 

not Pantheism, to the full extent of the creation 

of the universe, as it exists necessarily, also true? 
20* 



234 



NECESSITY AND FREE-WILL. 



If God has made any creatures which, through 
their whole existence, are wholly governed by 
fixed laws, does not our writer contend that all 
such creatures are but integral parts of himself? 
Or can our writer, or any one else, believe that 
all the animals, all the birds, all the reptiles and 
insects, together with all the fish in the sea, pos- 
sess those principles and modes of power which 
he assigns to man ? If he does not believe this, 
he must allow that all these creatures are but 
integral parts of God ; and, to be consistent, he 
must allow that all which we say those creatures 
do, God does for them. 

Our writer, no doubt, expected his readers 
would be disgusted at the doctrine of necessity, 
when they saw that, according to that doctrine, 
"God does all our willing, all our thinking; 
makes our characters for us, does our labor in 
the field and workshop, loves for us, and hates 
for us, eats our dinners for us, perpetrates our 
crimes for us," &c. But would it seem much 
more agreeable to the reader to say, that, from a 
little calf, God grows for him to an ox ; draws for 
him his nourishment from the cow, runs about 



NECESSITY AND FREE-WILL, 235 

the pasture for him, and for him eats grass ; and 
also draws the plough in the field for him ? And 
could we increase the reader's pleasure by run- 
ning through all the actions of the various ani- 
mals, birds, reptiles, insects, and fishes, pointing 
out and showing that God performs all their 
actions for them, and that they are but integral 
parts of him ? Why, let us ask, does it prove 
that men are but integral parts of God because 
they act from fixed laws, and act wholly so, any 
more than it proves that all other creatures are 
such because they so act ? 

Following our first quotation, our writer says, — 
" It may be said that we are now following the sub- 
ject into mystery. "Well do we know this. There is 
mystery all around us ; from the spire of grass that 
grows beneath our feet, up to the secrets of the invis- 
ible world ; and are we greatly astonished to find it 
here ? Before we explain the ultimate grounds of the 
human will, it might be instructive to try our skill at 
explaining the mysterious power of vegetable life in 
3 r onder flower." 

In this way, all scruples as to the truth of 
what the writer has asserted, which is neither 
proved nor understood, are removed. And this 



236 



NECESSITY AND FREE-WILL. 



is precisely the way by which Trinitarians set all 
doubts aside in regard to the doctrine of the 
Trinity. Because we are unable to explain the 
laws, powers, and process of vegetation, the doc- 
trine of the Trinity is true ! Although we can- 
not explain the laws of vegetation, we do not 
doubt that the Creator is the author of those 
laws, and the cause of the growth and perfec- 
tion of every flower that comes to maturity. But 
must we then say that God grows for the flower, 
buds for the flower, blooms for it, sheds its fra- 
grance for it, lives a little while for it, and then 
dies for it, because it is an integral part of him ? 
If what is here presented to the reader should 
give any assistance in arriving at a satisfactory 
conclusion respecting the subject considered, the 
design of the writer will be answered; if not, he 
will enjoy some satisfaction in a consciousness 
of having done what he believes a duty. On 
several accounts, it was with even painful reluc- 
tance that he has done it. 1st. Because he is 
deeply sensible of his very limited ability to do 
justice to any difficult subject, which, added to 
the consideration of his age and infirmities, ad- 



NECESSITY AND FREE-WILL. 237 

monishes him of his liability to misunderstand 
arguments to which he would reply. 2d. Be- 
cause the author of what has been called in ques- 
tion is a brother, and a justly and highly esteemed 
laborer in the ministry of our common faith ; 
esteemed and beloved by our whole fraternity, 
and especially by him who has here called his 
arguments in question. 



THE EIGHT MOTIVE 



To induce men to action, whether mental or 
physical, it seems to be necessary that some spe- 
cific motive should be presented, in which is seen 
something interesting as available in procuring 
enjoyment. Such a motive is required in all 
sorts of pursuits, whether of a temporal or of a 
religious nature. 

In agreement with the principle above stated, 
we shall find aM the duties which the Scriptures 
enjoin on men are presented to our minds ; and 
if religious teachers have sometimes erred, in 
regard to right motives, they have depended on 
the correctness of our principle, though the 
motive was incorrect. 

It has been the general practice of the Chris- 
tian clergy, for a long time, to endeavor to per- 
suade people to seek God, to seek religion, to 
repent of their sins and live a Christian life, by 
urging, as a paramount motive thereto, two 



THE RIGHT MOTIVE. 239 

important considerations. On the one hand, an 
eternity of happiness in an immortal state ; and, 
on the other, an endless duration of woe in the 
future world. The first to be obtained, and the 
last to be shunned, by a compliance with the 
duties enjoined. These future states of bliss and 
woe have been ample subjects for preachers to 
dwell on in their pulpit labors, and have fur- 
nished unbounded fields for the range of imagina- 
tion and the employment of all the powers of ora- 
tory. On the one hand, every possible description 
of felicity has been presented; and, on the other, 
all the powers of language have been employed 
in describing the terrors of that woe which awaits 
the delinquent. On this kind of preaching great 
dependence has been placed, for the purpose of 
leading sinners to repentance, and to a compli- 
ance with what was called the terms of salvation. 
On such preaching, too, reliance was placed to 
produce and carry on what have been called revi- 
vals of religion, whereby our churches have been 
abundantly supplied with converts. 

Although we would charitably believe that 
preachers who have been employed in the way 



240 THE RIGHT MOTIVE. 

just described were fully persuaded they were in 
the path of duty, — and that the more inviting they 
represented that blissful state which they prom- 
ised the obedient, and the more horrible they 
described the state of woe which awaits all who 
neglect the offers of grace, the better they per- 
formed their duty, both to God and their fellow- 
men, — we do not find, in the Scriptures, an 
example which they have followed. 

We deem it safe to say, that what is meant by 
true religion is embraced in that wisdom which 
is spoken of in Prov. iii. 13 — 18. " Happy is the 
man that findeth wisdom, and the man that get- 
teth understanding ; for the merchandise of it is 
better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain 
thereof than fine gold. She is more precious 
than rubies ; and all the things thou canst desire 
are not to be compared .unto her. Length of 
days is in her right hand ; and in her left hand, 
riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleas- 
antness, and all her paths are peace. She is a 
tree of life to them that lay hold upon her ; and 
happy is every one that retaineth her." In this 
recommendation of wisdom, we see that it is the 



THE RIGHT MOTIVE. 241 

happiness she yields to every one who lays hold 
upon her and retaineth her, which is presented as 
the right motive to induce men to seek such a 
treasure. Let us here ask if it would not present 
wisdom in a very different light, should we pro- 
pose anything else as a recompense for our pos- 
sessing her? By making such a proposal should 
we not signify that what we offered as a recom- 
pense was not only something besides wisdom, 
but something better ? Now, if we are right in 
supposing that true religion, the religion of 
Christianity, is comprehended in that wisdom 
above described, do we do this religion justice 
by offering something besides itself as a recom- 
pense for possessing it ? And, in agreement 
with these suggestions, we observe that, in the 
scripture above quoted, there is no allusion to a 
state of immortal bliss as a reward for obtain- 
ing wisdom ; nor is there any description of an 
eternity of woe which may be avoided by pos- 
sessing the recommended treasure. 

In the sermon which Jesus delivered on the 
mount, in which he presented all the blessed, 
virtues of his religion, and those precepts which 
21 



242 



THE RIGHT MOTIVE. 






constitute those virtues, the bliss produced by 
them are all placed in the present tense. 
Nothing do we here find which serves as an 
example faithfully imitated by our clergy, who 
come to their congregations with a description 
of a state of immortal happiness hereafter as a 
reward of duty done here ; and a most vivid 
account of the torments of a state of endless 
sufferings as a just retribution for a neglect of 
duty in this life. Is it an unreasonable question 
to ask, why our Christian ministers should so far 
depart from the teachings of the Divine Master, 
and set up arguments, and present motives, for 
which Jesus never set an example ? 

In that wonderful speech which Peter delivered 
on the day of Pentecost, — in which he preached 
to the murderers of Jesus the blessed Gospel of 
his risen Master, which proved effectual in the 
conversion of three thousand souls, — we find not 
a single word of threatening the people with end- 
less woe if they refused to repent ; nor a word of 
promise of an immortal state of bliss if they did. 
Will not candor allow that the facts here pre- 
sented are a cogent rebuke of such preaching as 
has been popular in our times ? 



THE EIGHT MOTIVE. 243 

In the account of the conversion of Saul, the 
persecutor, recorded in the 9th of Acts, we are 
informed concerning the means of this work of 
divine grace. The Lord Jesus asked this ex- 
ceedingly mad persecutor the following question : 
" Why persecutest thou me ? " Saul asked : 
" Who art thou, Lord ? " Jesus answered : 
" I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou perse- 
cutest. " The subdued persecutor said, " Lord, 
what wilt thou have me to do ? " Surely, we 
find here no example of such preaching as has 
been in use to lead sinners to repentance in our 
days. Saul was not informed that he was in 
danger of the awful doom of endless woe, and 
that, unless he repented, that doom would surely 
be his portion. Nor did Jesus inform him of a 
state of endless bliss as a reward for becoming a 
Christian. 

In the discourse delivered by Peter to Corne- 
lius and his friends, which God blessed to the 
conversion of these Gentiles, we find nothing of 
this bargain which modern preaching offers to 
sinners ; nothing about a hereafter reward for 
repentance, and faith in Christ; nothing about 



244 



THE RIGHT MOTIVE. 



the awful doom of endless woe if the offer be not 
accepted. 

To what has been said we may add the fact 
that, in all the accounts we have of the preach- 
ing of the apostles, we find no such conditions 
or offers made to either Jews or Gentiles, to influ- 
ence men or women to become Christians. A 
belief in that life and immortality which are 
brought to light through the Gospel is evidently 
the Christian faith; which faith, being productive 
of that hope which is an anchor of the soul, enter- 
ing into that within the vale whither the Fore- 
runner is for us entered, works by love, and 
brings the soul into the enjoyment of that right- 
eousness which constitutes the kingdom of God. 
In the light of this truth we see that true religion 
is the righteousness which the blessed hunger and 
thirst for, according to the words of Jesus, who 
said, — " Blessed are they who do hunger and 
thirst after righteousness ; for they shall be filled." 
How unreasonable, then, is it to represent true 
religion as a condition on which a blessed state is 
granted, as if this blessed state was something 
distinct from true religion ! Such a mistake robs 



THE RIGHT MOTIVE. 245 

Divine righteousness of its intrinsic worth. Those 
who commit the error say, if there be no reward 
hereafter for living righteously here, it is folly to 
live a righteous life, and forego the pleasures of 
sin. 

What we desire, by these arguments, is to 
have people understand and realize the blessed 
doctrine expressed in the nineteenth psalm. " The 
law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul ; 
the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise 
the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, 
rejoicing the heart ; the commandment of the 
Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes ; the fear of 
the Lord is clean, enduring forever ; the judg- 
ments of the Lord are true and righteous alto- 
gether. More to be desired are they than gold, 
yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than 
honey and the honeycomb. Moreover, by them 
is thy servant warned; and in keeping of them 

there is great reward." 
21* 



PROGRESSION. 



The Christian ministry, in these times, seems 
to be much occupied on the subject of progress. 
The old schemes which clerical wisdom contrived, 
to maintain an eternal distinction in the con- 
dition of the human family, have, in a great 
measure, become obsolete. That our Creator 
should predestinate a large part of the human 
race to endure endless woe for their wrong-doings 
in this mortal state, and grant to the rest a gra- 
cious pardon of all their sins, and a state of end- 
less felicity, as has been long believed and 
preached, does not now so well please the people 
as formerly. There are a great many objections 
to that creed, and they are of such a magnitude, 
and so apparent to common sense, that the clergy 
are generally cautious not to offend the good 
sense of their hearers by presenting that worn- 
out Calvinism to them. Nor does the Arminian 
scheme, in the form and dress in which it has 



PROGRESSION. 247 

long been held, so entirely satisfy people as it 
formerly did. It eventuated in maintaining as 
wide a distinction in the eternal state of man- 
kind, as did the scheme of Calvin ; but did not 
seem to involve the Divine character quite so 
apparently. The most essential fault in those 
old doctrines, as they now appear to people in 
this age, is the extreme difference which they 
make in the final condition of mankind. 

Now it is evident that, on account of a prone- 
ness in mankind to what may be called, in the 
common acceptation of the word, selfishness, peo- 
ple have heretofore believed in doctrines which 
teach that some will be better off in eternity than 
others ; for instances have been rare in which it 
has appeared that they who believed those doc- 
trines did not believe that their own eternal state 
would be all which they could desire. This 
selfishness, which is undoubtedly an imperfec- 
tion, is a certain something which adheres more 
closely to people than any doctrine which they 
may imbibe ; and will be about the last imperfec- 
tion which the human heart will part with. 
There are no doctrinal dogmas, however perti- 



248 



PROGRESSION. 



naciously adhered to, which may not be more 
easily surrendered than this inherent selfishness, 
which seems to have been the origin of all par- 
tial doctrines. If this selfishness be deprived of 
one scheme of partiality, on which it has nour- 
ished itself, it will immediately invent another ; 
and so long as its wisdom rules the mind, the 
wisdom which is from above, which is without 
partiality, will be rejected. 

Having those things of which we have spoken 
in view, we may ask the simple question, to 
which wisdom does this doctrine of progression 
belong ? Does it belong to that wisdom which is 
from above, which is without partiality, or does it 
belong to the wisdom which is from beneath ? 

The advocate for the doctrine of progression 
will, undoubtedly, answer, from above, be sure, 
for to progress in wisdom, in knowledge, in holi- 
ness, and all that is godly, must be right in the 
sight of God, and ought to be approved of all 
men. But we have another question to ask. 
What motive or object have we in view, which 
prompts us to make this progress ? The honest 
answer is, that we may occupy higher stations in 



PROGRESSION. 



249 



the future eternal world than those who are here 
indolent and sinful; and, moreover, that we 
may enter on the future state in advance of 
others, who here neglect to make the progress 
which we do. Shall we be told that this is not 
the way in which those talk who preach the doc- 
trine of progression? But do they not hold out 
such inducements to their hearers ? This will 
not be denied. The subject, then, is all plain ; 
and it amounts to an eternal distinction in the 
condition of mankind, certainly not less flattering 
to human pride than any other partial system by 
selfish man invented. What will finally be the 
amount of true godliness to which such progression 
will attain may remain doubtful at least; and 
how well it may compare with the character of 
Jesus may be questionable. See Matt. xx. 27, 
28, " And whosoever will be chief among you, let 
him be your servant ; even as the Son of man 
came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, 
and to give his life a ransom for many." The 
real character and spirit of a righteousness 
acquired for the purpose of the eternal dis- 
tinctions which constitute the object of the prog- 



250 



PROGRESSION. 



ress, which has been considered, are, doubtless, 
the same as were the character and spirit of the 
righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, who 
thanked God that they were not like other men ; 
and who put to death the Lord Jesus, and perse- 
cuted his disciples. 

As those who dwell much on the doctrine of 
progression venture, in their speculations, into 
the future state, and contend that it is unreason- 
able to suppose that those who make little or no 
progress in divine things while they live in the 
flesh will enter that world on a level with those 
who make great improvements here, we feel jus- 
tified in asking some information on other mat- 
ters which seem to belong to the general subject. 
The doctrine requires that people enter the future 
state as widely different from each other as they 
are when they leave this. If this be allowed, 
and all shall progress alike in the eternal world, 
there must remain forever as wide a difference as 
mere is in this world. Now, leaving out of the 
question the want of any Scripture testimony on 
this subject, and allowing our speculation ample 
scope, we may ask how the very best of fathers 



PROGRESSION. 251 

and mothers will enjoy that state, who there 
shall know that there remains as wide a differ- 
ence between them and their sons and daughters, 
whose vices have pierced their hearts with grief, 
and wrung from their eyes tears of sorrow, as 
there was in this world, and that the width of 
this difference will forever remain! Again, we 
may ask, how it will be hereafter with infants 
who depart this life, having made little or no 
progress in anything, at or about the time that 
their wise, experienced, and pious parents are 
called away? Will those little ones forever 
remain as distant from their parents as they 
were here ? If all progress alike hereafter, it 
seems this must be the case. As this doctrine 
of progression, as presented by theologians of our 
times, rests on what is called man's free agency, 
it is reasonable that we should ask how any one 
knows how free agents will act in another state ? 
How do we know that they will progress at all ? 
Why may they not abuse their powers and fac- 
ulties in the future world as well as in this ? 
And even if they should make commendable im- 
provements before they go hence, may they not 



252 



PROGRESSION. 



apostatize hereafter ? On this scheme, how do 
we know that any of our race will remain for- 
ever virtuous ? Another case which invites con- 
sideration is the fact, that men who, by dint of 
application to study, acquire much knowledge, 
and attain to great usefulness and large honors, 
sometimes outlive their faculties, and, before 
they die, are mere infants in knowledge. When 
such enter the coming state, do they occupy the 
low condition in which they leave this, or do 
they recover, in a moment, all they lost? We 
have known some who, for many years, lived 
virtuous lives, yet, before they were called away, 
became slaves to some vile appetite. Which of 
these conditions may they be entitled to when 
they enter the coming state ? 

These queries and suggestions are not pre- 
sented to the public in expectation that any one 
will feel called on to answer them, nor with a 
desire to have them answered. What is desired 
by the writer is, that preachers and all others 
may do themselves the justice to take into con- 
sideration all which their doctrines involve ; and, 
if they cannot be fully satisfied with believing 






PROGRESSION. 253 

and teaching simply what God has revealed in 
his word, and think that they must go on to per- 
fection by speculating- on the high and the low, 
the great and the small, of the eternal world, they 
may feel under some obligation to exercise char- 
ity towards their brethren, who prize every 
divine grace or attainment which God bestows, 
not because it will distinguish them from others 
hereafter, but because of the sweet enjoyment it 
affords now, and the means of serving others, 
whom divine truth teaches them to love as they 
love themselves. 

He who grows in grace, and in the knowledge 
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, will grow 
in meekness, in humility, and self-abasement; 
but will never draw any nourishment from an 
expectation of being greater than others, or of 
occupying a higher station in the immortal world. 
22 



WILL MEN SIN AFTER THEY 
ARE DEAD? 



It seems that many of our Christian clergy are 
endeavoring to persuade people to believe in the 
doctrine of future punishment, or punishment in 
the future state, on the ground of man's continu- 
ing to sin in that state. Some of the Orthodox 
clergy, I believe, have taken this ground : but 
more of those who style themselves liberal 
Christians. I believe, however, that neither class 
profess to believe that all men will sin hereafter ; 
but only such as they denominate the wicked, in 
distinction from such as they call the righteous. 
Yet, after all, they generally allow, that few or 
none attain to sinless perfection while they live 
in the flesh. I believe our divines who are 
striving to maintain future punishment, on the 
ground of the continuance of sin hereafter, have 
never thought it necessary to prove that those 



WILL MEN SIN AFTER DEATH ? 255 

whom they call the righteous will not be liable to 
sin hereafter, as will those whom they call the 
wicked, although it does not appear to be unrea- 
sonable that they should do so, or allow that all 
may there sin and there be punished ! 

In reference to the above subject, I here pro- 
pose to consider what is the true meaning of St. 
Paul in the following passage : 
" For he that is dead is freed from sin." Rom. vi. 7. 

Dr. Adam Clarke, treating on this passage, 
finds much fault with those who so apply the 
words of the apostle as to make him mean literal 
death. He refers to Dr. Dodd as one who so 
understood the apostle. This Dr. Dodd supposed 
that the text means that death gives a finishing- 
stroke to sin in Christians, when they die a lit- 
eral death. Dr. Clarke, in opposing Dr. Dodd, 
says : " And what can be said more of the whole 
herd of transgressors and infidels ? They cease 
to sin when they cease to breathe." 

Thus we see the learned Dr. Dodd understood 
the apostle to mean that he who is literally dead 
is freed from sin ; and the learned Dr. Clarke, in 
opposing such a meaning of the text, says that 



256 WILL MEN SIN AFTER DEATH ? 

" the whole herd of trangressors and infidels 
cease to sin when they cease to breathe." 

Prof. Stuart, treating on this text, says : " This 
text may be regarded as a kind of general max- 
im, or truth, in regard to all such as die physi- 
cally, or naturally. The object of the writer is 
to draw a comparison between the effects of nat- 
ural death, and those of spiritual death : the first 
causes men to cease from all action, and, of 
course, from their transgressions ; and, by anal- 
ogy, we may conclude that the second, which is 
a death unto sin, will do as much. The maxim, 
in its physical sense, was probably a proverbial 
one among the Jews." Thus we see, that this 
learned professor was fully satisfied that where 
the apostle says, " For he that is dead is freed 
from sin," he means, he that is literally dead is 
freed from sin. In this, doubtless, he is right , 
but is he right in his explanation, in that he 
makes out that, as the literally dead cease from 
all action, and of course from their transgressions, 
those who are dead unto sin likewise cease from 
all action, and of course from their transgressions ? 
Although his argument amounts to this, we may 



WILL MEN SIN AFTER DEATH? 257 

reasonably doubt that he was sensible of this 
fact ; for it is not likely that he meant that those 
who are dead unto sin thereby become inactive. 
But if he does not allow that the dead unto sin 
thereby cease from all action, then his analogy 
will not allow that the literally dead thereby 
become inactive, or do thereby cease from all 
action. 

That the learned professor, as well as other 
learned commentators, are right in understand- 
ing the apostle to mean literal death, where he 
says, " For he that is dead is freed from sin," 
we may be satisfied by carefully observing the 
use which he makes of the death of Christ in the 
context. 

Let us carefully notice how the apostle came 
to the argument, in which he introduces the gen- 
eral maxim that " he that is dead is freed from 
sin." In the last of the preceding chapter, he 
says: "Moreover, the law entered, that the 
offence might abound. But where sin abounded, 
grace did much more abound : that as sin hath 
reigned unto death, even so might grace reign 
through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus 
22* 



258 WILL MEN SIN AFTER DEATH? 

Christ, our Lord." The 6th chapter begins with 
a continuance of the subject : " What shall we 
say, then ? Shall we continue in sin, that grace 
may abound ? God forbid. How shall we that 
are dead to sin, live any longer therein ? " Here 
let us be careful to understand how the apostle 
makes out that he and his Christian brethren 
were dead to sin. " Know ye not that so many 
of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ, were 
baptized into his death?" That literal death is 
here meant, no one can doubt. " Therefore we 
are buried with him by baptism into death ; " 
that is, into literal death; for that is the death 
which Christ died. " That like as Christ was 
raised up from the dead by the glory of the 
Father, even so we also should walk in newness 
of life." Here carefully observe that Christ was 
rajsed up from literal death by the glory of the 
Father ; and the apostle argues that as believers 
of this most glorious truth, Christians should 
walk in newness of life. He adds : " For if 
we have been planted together in the likeness of 
his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his 
resurrection." Here ao-ain observe that Christ's 



1 



WILL MEN SIN AFTER DEATH ? 



259 



literal death and resurrection are meant. The 
apostle adds : " Knowing this, that our old 
man is crucified with him, that the body of sin 
might be destroyed, that henceforth we should 
not serve sin." How was Christ crucified? He 
was literally crucified ; was literally dead ; and 
in that death the body of sin was destroyed. 
The apostle adds, verse 7: "For he that is 
dead is freed from sin." Surely no one can sup- 
pose that in any instance in which Christ's cruci- 
fixion or death is mentioned, anything but literal 
death is intended. How, then, can we suppose 
the apostle meant anything but literal death 
when he uses a general maxim, that " he that is 
dead is freed from sin " ? Look at what follows 
the 7th verse : "Now, if we be dead with Christ, 
we believe that we shall also live with him ; know- 
ing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth 
no more : death hath no more dominion over him. 
For in that he died, he died unto sin once ; but 
in that he liveth, he liveth unto God." Here, 
again, be careful. How are w T e dead with Christ ? 
How was he dead ? He was literally dead. 
Were we literally dead when he was dead? 



260 WILL MEN SIN AFTER DEATH? 

Look back to verse 6th : " Knowing this, that 
our old man is crucified with him, that the body 
of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we 
should not serve sin." How was the body of sin 
destroyed ? See verses 9th and 10th : " Know- 
ing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth 
no more ; death hath no more dominion over him. 
For in that he died, he died unto sin once ; but 
in that he liveth, he liveth unto God." When 
did this crucifixion of our old man take place ? 
The apostle answers thus : " Knowing this, that 
our old man was crucified with him." When he 
died, he died unto sin. When he died, he, " by 
the grace of God, tasted death for every man." 
" He was delivered for our offences, and was 
raised again for our justification." 

It would be an egregious error to suppose, that 
when the apostle said, " Our old man is crucified 
with him," he meant that the " old man" of 
believers only was crucified with Christ ; for when 
Christ was crucified there were no believers. 
The apostle himself, and all his cotemporary 
Christians, were unbelievers wdien Christ was 
crucified. The apostle speaks of but one old 



WILL MEN SIN AFTER DEATH ? 



261 



man, and the body of that old man is the body of 
sin, which was destroyed. For whom was the 
body of sin destroyed ? For all for whom Christ 
died. Heb. ii. 9 : " But we see Jesus, who was 
made a little lower than (he angels for the suffer- 
ing of death, crowned w T ith glory and honor : that 
he, by the grace of God, should taste death for 
every man." 1 Tim. ii. 5, 6 : " For there is one 
God, and one mediator between God and men, 
the man Christ Jesus ; who gave himself a ran- 
som for all, to be testified in due time." The 
death of Christ for all men, and his resurrection 
for their justification, together with what is nec- 
essarily embraced therein, constitute the whole 
of that good news, called the Gospel, which 
Jesus commissioned his apostles to preach to all 
nations. Now our believing the Gospel makes 
no part of it true ; but gives us the enjoyments 
of its blessed hope, and enjoins on us all those 
duties and obligations which constitute a faithful 
discipleship of the Divine Master. 

We repeat our first question : Will men sin 
after they are dead? We answer: — We hope 
not ; for if he that is dead is freed from sin ; if 



262 WILL MEN SIN AFTER DEATH? 

in the death of Christ what is called our old 
man was crucified, and what is called the body 
of sin was destroyed, — we hope that in the resur- 
rection the old man, the body of sin, will not 
appear. We hope that in the resurrection all 
will be made alive in Christ ; and as the apostle 
says : " In that he died, he died unto sin once ; 
but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God ;" so we 
hope, that all who die, will die unto sin ; and 
that all who live hereafter, will live unto God. 

It is strenuously contended, that so great a 
change as the discontinuance of all sin at death 
is unreasonable ; and yet those learned divines 
who thus contend will allow even greater 
changes at death in those whom they call right- 
eous. If we ask them whether there are not, in 
all the Christian denominations, many who may 
be ranked with what they call the righteous, they 
are ready, at once, to allow it. But do they 
believe that the righteous hereafter will oppose 
each other, as they do here, and refuse to com- 
mune together ? No, they will allow no such 
thing. Then will they meet with a greater 
change than would those in general who are 



WILL MEN SIN AFTER DEATH? 



263 



called sinners, should they cease from all sin ? 
Will such as cannot allow so great a change at 
death as the discontinuance of sin, allow that the 
righteous hereafter will be afflicted and made 
exceedingly sorrowful on account of the vices 
and wickedness of their sons and daughters, of 
their fathers and mothers, of their brothers and 
sisters, &c. ? No, they will not allow this. 
Then they must allow that the righteous will 
experience a greater change than the wicked 
would, should they cease from sinning. Will 
there, in the future state, be any such endless 
variety of religious opinions as are entertained in 
this mortal state ? If not, what an astonishing 
change must be effected ! 

Our general subject seems to suggest the 
momentous question, whether the Scriptures any- 
where represent the resurrection state as a pecca- 
ble one ? It must, we think, be allowed, that 
where Jesus spake to the Sadducees on the subject 
of the resurrection, in room of intimating that 
men in that state will sin, the contrary is reason- 
ably inferred. Luke xx. 34 — 38 : " And Jesus 
answering, said unto them, The children of this 



264 WILL MEN SIN AFTER DEATH ? 

world marry and are given in marriage ; but they 
which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that 
world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither 
marry nor are given in marriage ; neither can 
they die any more ; for they are equal unto the 
angels, and are the children of God, being the chil- 
dren of the resurrection. Now, that the dead are 
raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he 
called the Lord the God of Abraham, and the 
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For he is not 
a God of the dead, but of the living; for all live 
unto him." If they are equal unto the angels, and 
if they all live unto God, and can die no more, 
it certainly favors the hope, that there will be no 
sinning in that immortal world. And this most 
precious hope seems also to derive no little 
support from the description of the resurrection 
which we find in 1 Cor. xv., beginning at the 42d 
verse : " It is sown in corruption, it is raised in 
incorruption ; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised 
in glory ; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in 
power ; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spir- 
itual body. There is a natural body, and there is 
a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first 



WILL MEN SIN AFTER DEATH i 



265 



man Adam was made a living soul, the last Adam 
was made a quickening spirit. . . . The first man 
is of the earth, earthy ; the second man is the 
Lord from heaven. As is the earth) 7 , such are 
they also that are earthy : and as is the heavenly, 
such are they also that are heavenly. And as 
we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall 
also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I 
say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit 
the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption 
inherit incorruption." Surely no one can desire 
any comment on the preceding quotation, to make 
it appear favorable to the blessed hope, that the 
resurrection will not bring mankind into a pecca- 
ble or sinful state. Equally favorable to this 
most cheering hope are the words of the apostle, 
Rom. viii., beginning at verse 19: "For the 
earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for 
the manifestation of the sons of God. For the 
creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, 
but by reason of him who hath subjected the 
same in hope ; because the creature itself also 
shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, 
into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 
23 



266 WILL MEN SIN AFTER DEATH ? 

I 

For we know that the whole creation groaneth, 
and travaileth in pain together until now ; and 
not only they, but ourselves also, which have the 
first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan 
within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, 
the redemption of our body. For we are saved 
by hope. But hope that is seen, is not hope ; for 
what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for ? 
But if we hope for that we see not, then do we 
with patience wait for it." Who can believe 
that the apostle would have used such language 
in describing an expectation of a state of sin for 
himself and all creation? If the immortal state 
is a peccable state, then all who exist in it may 
sin. What the apostle says on the subject of the 
hereafter state, in 2 Cor. v., shows that he believed 
that state to be altogether desirable. Begin with 
verse 1 : " For we know that if our earthly house 
of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a 
building of God, an house not made with hands, 
eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, 
earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our 
house which is from heaven : if so be that being 
clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that 

! 



~l 



WILL MEN SIN AFTER DEATH ? 267 

are in this tabernacle do groan, being- burdened : 
not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed up- 
on, that mortality might be swallowed up of life." 
It is worthy of notice, that the resurrection 
state is uniformly represented as a state to be 
hoped for ; and never, in a single instance, repre- 
sented as a state to be dreaded by any portion of 
the human race. How very comforting are the 
following words ; see Heb. vi., beginning at verse 
17: "Wherein God, willing more abundantly to 
show unto the heirs of promise the immutability 
of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath ; that by 
two immutable things, in which it was impossible 
for God to lie, we might have a strong consola- 
tion, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon 
the hope set before us : which hope we have as 
an anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast; 
and which entereth into that within the vail ; 
whither the forerunner is for us entered, even ; 

Jesus, made a high priest forever, after the order 
of Melchisedec." Who, let us ask, of any 
denomination of Christians among us, does not 
stand in need of the strong consolation which the 
foregoing passage seems to afford ? Who does 



268 



WILL MEN SIN AFTER DEATH? 



not need that hope, and the consolations of that 
hope, which is an anchor of the soul, and which 
enters into that within the vail, whither our high 
priest has entered ? It would seem that a mo- 
ment's survey of mankind in this mortal, sinful 
state, would wean any sensible man or woman 
from all its fading glory. Who can survey all 
the oppressions, all the injustice, all the slavery, 
all the wickedness, all the pain and sickness, 
together with the certain prospect of soon parting 
with all the fond endearments of life, and of 
descending into the silence of the tomb, and feel 
no need of that blessed hope of an immortality, 
where death shall be swallowed up in victory, 
and tears wiped from all faces ? 

What can be more inconsistent than to argue, 
as some do, that a belief that the resurrection 
state is free from sin is dangerous to the interests 
of piety and virtue ? Can a belief that men will 
continue to sin in the immortal w T orld render any 
service to the interests of piety and virtue in this 
world ? In what possible way can it have such 
an effect ? Will it encourage the pious and vir- 
tuous to be faithful in all religious and moral 



1 



WILL MEN SIN AFTER DEATH? 269 

duty, to believe their neighbors will be wicked 
and vicious hereafter? If such a belief can do 
the righteous no good, let us ask if it can be of 
any benefit to the vicious and impious ? What 
deception is it which leads the wicked on now in 
the ways of sin ? The true answer is, they 
promise themselves enjoyment therein. If so, 
should they believe that in the immortal world 
they shall walk in the same way, would such a 
belief tend to reform them now ? This is unrea- 
sonable. As far as a belief can serve the inter- 
ests of religion and moral virtue here on earth, it 
must be a faith which works by love. Love 
which is the fulfilling of the law is love to God 
and our fellow-creatures. Standing in this light, 
let us consider the following question : — Suppose 
people, everywhere, were now fully convinced, 
and fully believed, that in the world to come all 
hearts will be filled with love to God, and to each 
other, and that no hatred will be known there, 
is it reasonable to suppose that such a belief 
would tend to cause people now to love God and 
one another less ? No supposition could be more 
unreasonable. An effect exactly contrary would 
23* 



270 



WILL MEN SIN AFTER DEATH f 



necessarily follow. If we hope soon to be with 
Christ, and to be like him, and if we steadily 
exercise this hope, shall we not, by its benign 
influence, endeavor to keep ourselves from all 
moral pollution ? See 1 John iii. 2, 3: "Beloved, 
now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet 
appear what we snail be : but w r e know that 
when he shall appear, we shall be like him ; for 
we shall see him as he is. And every man that 
hath this hope in him, purifieth himself, even as 
he is pure." 

That speculative doctrine, for which many now 
contend, that teaches a restoration from sin and 
condemnation in some future age or ages, in the 
future, immortal state, seems to be entirely with- 
out foundation in the word of God. And if we 
bring it to the test of sound reason, how can it 
be supported ? It must allow that man's consti- 
tution, in the immortal world, will be a peccable 
constitution ; and if so, what can be relied on to 
prevent the continuance of sin as long as that 
immortal state shall endure ? We read of but 
two constitutions of man in the Scriptures : the 
mortal and the immortal; the earthly and the 



■- 



WILL MEN SIN AFTER DEATH ? 271 

heavenly. The Scriptures speak of sin in the 
earthly state,but never speak of it in the immortal. 

Again we recur to our question : Will men sin 
after they are dead ? In addition to what has 
already been offered to answer our question, we 
refer to Heb. ii. 14, 15 : " Forasmuch, then, as the 
children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also 
himself likewise took part of the same ; that 
through death he might destroy him that had the 
power of death, that is, the devil ; and deliver 
them, who, through fear of death, were all their 
lifetime subject to bondage." If the tempter is 
destroyed by the death of the body, we have 
good ground to hope that sin will not continue. 
It is believed that the history of sin begins and 
ends in flesh and blood ; and surely we believe 
that there is no Scripture account of it out of our 
mortal constitution. 

We are sensible that the views here presented 
to our readers are widely different from the opin- 
ions of the most of Christians. And true it is, 
that the doctors of the church and theological 
schools teach doctrines altogether opposed to 
the precious hope which we have here presented. 



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022 190 341 9 



